Nearly two dozen civilians have lost their lives when the so-called anti-Daesh US-led coalition carried out an airstrike in Syria’s troubled and militant-held northern province of Raqqah.

The attack struck al-Msheirfeh region north of the provincial capital city of Raqqah, located about 160 kilometers east of Aleppo, on Thursday and claimed the lives of nearly 20 civilians, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported on Friday.

The report added that several people also sustained injuries in the blitz. The death toll is expected to rise as many of the wounded victims are in critical condition.

The Russian Foreign Ministry later condemned the airstrike against civilian targets in Raqqah as “unacceptable.”

“These reports cause deep concern. Air and missile strikes that result in deaths and suffering of peaceful Syrians are unacceptable and deserve decisive condemnation. The suffering of civilian population must be stopped,” the ministry said in a statement.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on November 9 that at least 23 people, including a child, were killed when an airstrike by the US-led coalition struck the village of al-Heesha, situated about 40 kilometers north of Raqqah.

On October 4, at least 20 civilians were killed and 40 others injured after US-led coalition warplanes bombed the Kurdish-majority village of Thulthana in the northern province of Aleppo.

The development came only two days after airstrikes by the US-led coalition pounded the town of Mare’, located some 25 kilometers north of Aleppo, and left nine civilians dead.

The US-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against what are said to be the Daesh terrorists inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate.

The coalition has repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians. It has also been largely incapable of fulfilling its declared aim of destroying Daesh.