At least 14 civilians, including five children, were killed on Saturday in air strikes by the United States-led coalition on the Islamic State’s last enclave in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The coalition air raids were conducted on the villages of Hajin, Sousa and Al-Shaafa in eastern Deir ez-Zor province. “The death toll is likely to rise due to the number of seriously wounded,” the observatory’s chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. At least nine militants were killed in the air strikes.

According to the Syrian Arab News Agency, Saturday’s air strikes are considered the most aggressive ones in several months on the residential neighbourhood in Hajin city. Strikes in the area intensified following an attempted jihadist attack on a coalition base in a nearby village of Al-Bahra, AFP quoted the observatory as saying.