U.S.-led strikes have killed 850 people in Syria, 50 civilians - monitor

An EA-18G Growler launches from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in this U.S. Navy picture taken in the Arabian Gulf October 28, 2014. REUTERS/U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class John Philip Wagner Jr./Handout via Reuters/Files

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Air strikes by U.S.-led forces in Syria have killed 865 people, including 50 civilians, since the start of the campaign in late September against Islamic State militants, a group monitoring the war said on Wednesday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the majority of the deaths, 746, were Islamic State fighters and said the actual figure could be much higher. Eight of the civilians were children and five were women, the Observatory said. It said 68 members of al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front were also killed in the air strikes, which started early on Sept. 23. (Reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Toby Chopra)