iraq al-qa'im
© Wikimapia.orgAl-Qa'im, an Iraqi town located nearly 400 km northwest of Baghdad near the Syrian border
Dozens of civilians were killed in an airstrike on the Islamic State-held town of Qaim in Iraq on Wednesday, local MPs and medics told Reuters, adding that many women and children were among the dead.

The airstrike reportedly hit a busy market in the small town, which is located in Anbar province, near the Syrian border.

Anbar lawmaker, Ahmed al-Salmani, and medical sources told Reuters that 55 civilians were killed.

It is not yet clear whose planes carried out the reported strike.

Airstrikes against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) have previously been carried out by the US-led coalition, which is helping local security forces in their fight against the terrorists.

Last week, the coalition acknowledged that 54 civilians were "inadvertently killed" in seven of its strikes in Iraq and Syria between March and October this year.