At least 39 killed in air strikes on IS Syria stronghold: Report

Air strikes on the Islamic State "capital" of Raqqa killed 39 people on Saturday, according to an activist group.

Five children and seven women were among the dead, as well as five members of the IS security forces. 60 people were wounded, the Syrian Observatory on Human Rights said.

Another campaign group, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, reported the names of three people it said died in the raids.

The attacks came a day after 16 civilians were killed in strikes on the same city.

"We cannot know whether the latest strikes on Raqqa are by Syrian or Russian warplanes," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

"What is clear is that their goal is to try to paralyse IS and to stop it from deploying reinforcements from Raqqa to the Palmyra area," he told AFP.

Russia has been gradually reducing its military presence in Syria, but airstrikes have continued against both IS and other opposition forces.

Senior Russian commander Sergei Rudskoi on Friday said Russian jets were flying about two dozen bombing sorties daily to back up the Syrian government's bid to recapture Palmyra.

Air strikes in recent days have focused on the ancient city, which is currently under IS control.

"Government troops and patriotic forces with the support of the Russian air force are carrying out a large-scale operation to liberate Palmyra," he told journalists in Moscow.

Roughly 1,800 Syrian civilians, including more than 400 children, have been killed in Russian air strikes since Moscow launched its aerial campaign on September 30, according to the Observatory.