US-led strikes kill 14 militants in Syria: Monitor

An area US officials say was an ISIL vehicle staging center near Abu Kamal, Syria, is seen before (inset) and after it was struck by US aircraft in a US Department of Defense handout picture provided September 23, 2014. Photo: Reuters

At least 14 Islamic State fighters were killed in air strikes by US-led forces overnight in northeast Syria, a group monitoring the war said on Thursday.
The strikes also killed at least five civilians, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. US-led forces started air strikes on Syria on Tuesday.
A third night of US-led air strikes late on Wednesday targeted Islamic State-controlled oil refineries in eastern Syria as the United States and its allies tried to stem a major source of revenue for the al-Qaeda offshoot, US officials said.
The strikes hit facilities around al Mayadin, al Hasakah, and Abu Kamal, the US military said.
The initial days of US strikes suggest another aim is to hamper Islamic State's ability to operate across the Syria-Iraq frontier.