'Russian raids' kill civilians ahead of Syria talks

Suspected Russian raids killed 33 civilians in war-ravaged eastern Syria on Saturday, amid reports US forces are building up an air base to bolster their fight against jihadists further north.

Meanwhile, senior diplomats scrambled to resolve the key question of who will represent Syria's opposition at crucial talks next week aimed at ending the nearly-five year war.

In eastern Syria, the 33 civilians were killed in air strikes suspected to have been carried out byRussian warplanes on a jihadist-held village.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said nine children and two women were among the dead in Khasham, which is controlled by the Islamic State group.

The village is in Syria's oil-rich Deir Ezzor province, where IS has sought to advance in recent days despite a barrage of Russian and Syrian government air strikes.

The week-long IS offensive on the provincial capital has left nearly 500 people dead and sparked fears of mass killings among the 200,000 people still living there. 

IS declared a self-styled "caliphate" in 2014 across swathes of Syria and Iraq, imposing its ultra-conservative interpretation of Islamic law there.

In Syria, it is under fire by the government and Damascus's long-time ally Russia, as well as a US-led coalition also battling the jihadists in Iraq.

To bolster their fight against the group, US special forces deployed in Syria are building up an airbase in the northeast, sources told AFP on Saturday.