Syria government airstrikes kill at least 8 in IS-held city

In this image made from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, an anti-Bashar Assad activist group, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, people walk beside a building on fire as they look for survivors and carry out bodies from the site after a Syrian government airstrike hit the area in the town of Hamouriyeh, east of Damascus, Syria, Friday, Jan. 23, 2014. AP

BEIRUT — Syrian activists say government airstrikes have killed at least eight people in a northern town held by the Islamic State.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrikes targeted the city of al-Bab on Thursday. The Observatory, which obtains its information from a network of activists on the ground, said the dead included women and children and that the toll was likely to rise because many people were wounded.

The Aleppo Media Center, a local activist group, said 15 people were killed in four airstrikes that targeted a crowded sheep market. Conflicting death tolls are common after such strikes.

Human rights groups and local activists say Syrian government forces often show disregard for civilians when targeting suspected militants.