US airstrikes ISIS
Smoke rises over Syrian town of Kobani after an airstrike, as seen from the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the town of Suruc in this file photograph taken Oct. 18, 2014. Reuters

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A U.S.-led coalition carried out at least 30 air strikes in Syria against Islamic State militants in the northern province of Raqqa on Saturday, a monitoring group said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the air strikes hit Islamic State positions in the northern outskirts of Raqqa city, a major stronghold of the hardline Islamist militants.

The areas hit by the strikes included the 17th Division, a Syrian army base that Islamic State seized in July, the Observatory said.

(Reporting by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Michael Urquhart)