Over 20 civilians killed in US-led attack

A handout picture retrieved from the British Ministry of Defence's Defence News Imagery website on December 1, 2015 shows a British Royal Air Force RAF Tornado GR4 pictured on return to RAF Akrotiri Cyprus after an armed reconnaissance mission in support of OP SHADER on September 30, 2014. Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 aircraft have been in action over Iraq as part of the international coalitionÂ’s operations to support the democratic Iraqi Government in the fight against ISIL. Britain looks poised to join air strikes on Islamic State (IS) group targets in Syria this week after Prime Minister David Cameron announced November 30 that a vote would be held in parliament December 2, 2015. RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT " AFP PHOTO / CROWN COPYRIGHT 2015 / CPL NEIL BRYDEN RAF " - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - NO ARCHIVE - TO BE USED WITHIN 2 DAYS FROM DEC 2, 2015 (48 HOURS), EXCEPT FOR MAGAZINES WHICH CAN PRINT THE PICTURE WHEN FIRST REPORTING ON THE EVENT / AFP / CROWN COPYRIGHT 2015 / CPL NEIL BRYDEN RAF

At least 26 civilians, including children, have been killed in the north-east of Syria by air strikes possibly carried out by the US-led coalition. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the village of al-Khan, near al-Hawl in Hasakah province, was hit and that at least 26 civilians were killed.

A US spokesman in Iraq said that the army will look into the allegations and that the allegations were taken very “seriously”, adding that if the information was deemed “credible”, an investigation would be launched and the results released publicly.

That area has been the focus of fierce fighting in recent weeks between IS forces and Arab and Kurdish groups, backed by coalition air strikes. The coalition has been targeting IS militants in Syria since September 2014, and does not coordinate its raids with the authorities in Damascus.

Separately, the Syrian government said three soldiers were killed in a strike and called it an act of “flagrant aggression”. However the US military insisted that the coalition had carried out no strikes in the area near the camp.

Russia has also been bombing IS and other opponents of President Bashar al-Assad since late September.

Last week, the UK decided to participate in the air strikes in Syria, extending its existing bombing campaign against IS in Iraq. The United Nations announced on Monday that it was seeking $20.1bn (£13.3bn) to fund its humanitarian aid operations in 2016, with two-fifths earmarked for the Syria crisis.