Assad forces kill 42 in Syria: activists

At least 42 people were killed in air and ground operations across Syria on Monday by forces of President Bashar al-Assad, opposition activists say.

The London-based Syrian Network for Human Rights, which tracks civilian and opposition casualties, said air and land operations from Assad’s forces killed 14 on Monday in the suburbs of the capital Damascus, nine in Aleppo, eight in Daraa, three each in ar-Raqqah, Hama, and Deir ez-Zor, and one each in Haseke, and Lattakia.

On Friday, the Syrian network reported the death of at least 66 people in air and ground operations across by pro-Assad forces.  

Syria has been gripped by civil war since March, 2011. Last month, the Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that more than 133,000 people had been killed in attacks by forces loyal to Assad.

The fighting, which entered its fourth year in March, has also internally displaced more than 6.5 million Syrians. An additional 2.5 million are registered as refugees in the neighbouring countries of Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq.

Meanwhile, militants affiliated with the Islamic State (IS), formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, destroyed the tomb of Prophet David in Aleppo, according to the Syria General Revolutionary Council. 

The Islamic State has declared a "caliphate" that straddles parts of Syria and Iraq, leading an estimated 1.2 million Iraqis to leave their homes to escape war or government retaliations. The militants have particularly targeted Shiite Muslims, Turkmen, Yazidis, and Christians.

The Syrian Coalition welcomed on Friday the UN Security Council’s adoption of a resolution that targets militant groups in Iraq and Syria.