(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency) U.S.-led coalition forces conducted 16 airstrikes Saturday and early Sunday against key Daesh terrorist group buildings and transit routes in the group's stronghold of Raqqa, Syria, a U.S. Army official said.

The U.S.-led coalition often targets Daesh-held towns and cities in Syria, but the overnight strikes on Raqqa were rare in their intensity.

"The significant airstrikes tonight were executed to deny Daesh the ability to move military capabilities throughout Syria and into Iraq," Lt. Col. Thomas Gilleran said in a statement.

Gilleran, the spokesperson for the Combined Joint Task Force's Operation Inherent Resolve, also called it one of the "largest deliberate engagements" executed in Syria to-date, Fox News said.