WARPLANES of the US-led coalition bombed a village in northern Syria at midnight on Tuesday, killing at least 20 civilians and injuring 60.

The state-run Sana news agency said the raid had hit the village of Thelthanh, north-east of al-Bab in the north of Aleppo province.

The Syrian-Kurdish ANHA agency said Turkish jets had carried out the atrocity as part of the coalition.

Thelthanh lies in a largely Kurdish but Islamic State (Isis)-occupied border region where the Turkish army and its jihadist allies have been bogged down against the rebels.

Turkey seized nearby Jarabulus in August, with Isis forces seemingly melting away without a fight. That prevented the Kurdish YPG militia from capturing the town.

Meanwhile, Syrian troops defending the besieged city of Deir Ezzor drove back Isis from key points on Thardeh mountain overlooking the city’s lifeline airport.

Isis overran the mountain last month in an attacked seemingly co-ordinated with an hour-long blitz by US aircraft on army positions there, killing more than 80 troops.

In the city of Aleppo, street-by-street fighting continued between soldiers, backed by volunteer militia fighters, and US-armed insurgents and their al-Qaida allies.

On Tuesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told an Iranian journal that victory in the war would sound the death knell for imperialism.

“Syria’s victory will bring about the spread of ideas of independent development, which the West fears most of all,” he said.

Meanwhile, Russia sent two more warships and a battery of anti-aircraft missiles to Syria in a clear warning against further Western military intervention.