BAGHDAD, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Air strikes on Wednesday killed dozens of people, including many women and children, in an Islamic State-held town near Iraq’s western border with Syria, two parliamentarians and local hospital sources said.
They said the air strikes hit a busy market in the town of Qaim, in Iraq’s Anbar province. The local hospital sources said 55 civilians were killed, including 12 women and 19 children, in three air strikes.
The bodies of eight militants were also delivered to Qaim hospital morgue, the hospital sources said.
Anbar lawmaker Ahmed al-Salmani also said 55 civilians were killed. Another lawmaker, Mohammed Karbouli, told Reuters that 60 people had been killed, including some of his relatives.
Iraqi officials did not immediately comment on the reports, but Islamic State’s news agency Amaq released footage showing what it said was the aftermath of the strikes, which it blamed on Iraq’s air force.
It showed burning vehicles on a wide main road lined by shops. Corpses, some charred and others bloodied, could be seen on the street, and the bodies of several children were also shown. Several buildings had been wrecked.
The attack took place as Iraqi forces are waging a seven- week campaign to crush Islamic State in the city of Mosul, about 280 km (175 miles) northeast of Qaim.