38 civilians were killed while trying to cross the Euphrates river in an attempt to flee the war in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor province by a Russian airstrike.

The British based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that the deaths included nine children as they tried to cross the river on rafts as Russian-backed forces fight the Islamic State group.

An Iraqi family is also said to have been killed in the airstrike as the situation in Syria remains tense. Deir ez-Zor shares a border with Iraq and Iraqi’s have crossed over into Deir ez-Zor as they try to escape the Islamic State in Iraq.

Syrian troops backed by Russia have been fighting the Islamic State in east Deir ez-Zor along the western side of the Euphrates river. Another war on the eastern side of the river is being fought by an alliance of Kurdish and Arab soldiers who are backed by the US.

The Observatory has brought to light hundreds of killings where civilians have been affected by the war against the Islamic State in Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa province, where the Syrian Democratic Forces are trying to regain control of Raqqa.

The report has been publishing the death tolls on a regular basis and said that more than 3,30,000 people have lost their lives since the war began in Syria back in March 2011.

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