US military probes school-bombing claim

BEIRUT: The US military is investigating claims that it had bombed a school in northern Syria where activists said dozens of civilians had been killed.

The strike that hit a building in the north of Raqqa province marked the second time in a week that US forces have been accused of causing mass civilian casualties in an air campaign against extremist groups.

US-backed troops are also battling Islamic State militants on the ground, after the extremists made the city of Raqqa its de facto capital in 2014.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said 33 bodies had been pulled from the rubble at the school, which activists said had been used to house at least 50 families fleeing violence elsewhere in the country.

Pentagon spokesperson Eric Pahon said the US was examining whether it was behind the strike. – The Washington Post