BEIRUT: US-led air strikes on Syria killed a total of 225 civilians over the past month, a monitor said on Tuesday, the highest 30-day toll since the campaign began in 2014.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the civilian dead between April 23 and May 23 included 44 children and 36 women.The US-led air campaign against the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria began on September 23, 2014. "The past month of operations is the highest civilian toll since the coalition began bombing Syria," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. "There has been a very big escalation. "The intent is to prevent the return home of escaped foreign fighters. "Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to quickly defeat IS, signed an executive order soon after taking office giving his generals 30 days to come up with a revised plan to wipe the jihadists out.The review resulted in the new "annihilation campaign" and saw commanders gain greater autonomy to make battlefield decisions.

Source: Times of India May 23, 2017 15:29 UTC