Syria Airstrikes On IS 'Capital' Kill 95

At least 95 people have been reportedly been killed in Syrian regime airstrikes on the Islamic State group's self-proclaimed capital.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 52 of the dead in Raqqa were civilians, but is unclear if any of the other casualties were militants.

Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the London-based monitoring group, said: "Some of the strikes hit near to Islamic State posts.

"There were also 20 unidentified victims who could be civilians or jihadists, as well as the disfigured remains of at least seven other people.

"Most of the casualties were caused by two consecutive airstrikes. The first strike came, residents rushed to rescue the wounded, and then the second raid took place."

Amateur video footage distributed by activists in Raqqa showed several bloodied bodies laid out on a street near an apparent bombing site, as an ambulance rushed to the scene.

In the clip, aid workers in red overalls bearing the Red Crescent symbol are seen placing the dead into white body bags, while activists from the city can be heard denouncing the raids as a "massacre".

Raqqa was the first provincial capital in Syria that President Bashar al Assad's forces lost control of. It was later overrun by IS, which has used it as the capital of its so-called "caliphate".

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office is investigating reports that another Briton has died in Syria.

A spokesman said: "As we do not have any representation in Syria, it is extremely difficult to get any confirmation of deaths or injuries and our options for supporting British nationals there are extremely limited."

The terror threat level in the UK has been raised from substantial to severe in recent months as fears grow that aspiring British jihadis are travelling to Iraq and Syria to learn terrorist "tradecraft".