US-led aerial campaign kills 52 civilians in northern Syria

The death toll of the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition against a northern Syrian town rose to at least 52 people, a monitor group reported Saturday.

The airstrikes were carried out early Friday against the town of Beirmhali in the northwestern countryside of Aleppo province in northern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

At least seven kids and nine women were among the slain people, said the UK-based watchdog group. It added that aside from the 52 killed, no less than 13 people were reported missing by the strikes, which could further raise the casualty count.

It said the recent killings add to the previous estimates, which indicate that 66 civilians were killed by the international coalition airstrikes against the positions of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria since the coalition started its strikes in the war-torn country in September 2014.

The Observatory said it condemns with the strongest words possible this "massacre" that targeted the northern Syrian town under the pretext of targeting the IS positions there.

It urged the coalition countries to avert hitting residential areas.