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The majority of the deaths, 785, were Islamic State fighters
according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights. Islamic State, a hard-line offshoot of al Qaeda, has
seized land in Syria and neighboring Iraq, where it has also
been targeted by U.S.-led strikes since July.
Eight of the civilians killed were children and five were women,
the Observatory said. The United States has said it takes
reports of civilian casualties seriously and says it has a
process to investigate any reports of such deaths.
The Observatory, which gathers its information from a network of
contacts on the ground, said 72 members of al Qaeda's Syria wing
Nusra Front were also killed in the air strikes, which started
on Sept. 23.
The United States has said it has targeted the "Khorasan Group"
in Syria, which it describes as a grouping of al Qaeda veterans
under the protection of Nusra Front. Most analysts and activists
do not differentiate between the groups in this way.
According to the United Nations, around 200,000 people have been
killed in Syria's conflict, which is in its fourth year.
(Reporting by Sylvia Westall; editing by Susan Thomas)
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