At least 42 civilians were killed in Syria’s Raqqa city on Monday in airstrikes led by the United States, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. There were 19 children among the casualties, AFP reported.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by the US-led coalition, are engaged in fierce fighting in the Islamic State stronghold and have captured more than half the city so far. Observatory Director Rami Abdel Rahman said the airstrikes hit the densely populated Al-Badu area at the city centre.

On Monday, the Islamic State group had claimed that an Indian suicide bomber, Yusuf al-Hindi, had killed several “infidels” belonging to the Kurdish Workers’ Party in an attack in Raqqa.