Syria monitor says US strikes killed at least five IS members

Damascus: ASyriamonitor said Saturday that at least five Islamic State jihadist group members including a cell leader were killed in US strikes overni...

Damascus: A Syria monitor said Saturday that at least five Islamic State jihadist group members including a cell leader were killed in US strikes overnight after a deadly attack on American troops last weekend.

US forces said they struck more than 70 IS targets in what President Donald Trump described as "very serious retaliation" for the December 13 attack that killed two US soldiers and a US civilian.

Washington had said a lone gunman from the IS jihadist group carried out the attack in Palmyra, which is home to UNESCO-listed ancient ruins and was once controlled by jihadist fighters.

It was the first such incident since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December last year, and Syrian authorities said the perpetrator was a security forces member who was due to be fired for his "extremist Islamist ideas".

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP that "at least five members of the Islamic State group were killed" in eastern Syria's Deir Ezzor province, including the leader of a cell responsible for drones in the area.