Coalition kills 500 Syrian civilians in month
THE Us-led coalition against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) has killed nearly 500 civilians in one month of its pursuit of militant fighters in Syria, in what the United Nations has called a “staggering loss of life”.
An independent monitoring organi- sation has said that some 472 civilians, including 137 children, died in air strikes on the Isil-held cities of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria between May 23 and June 23.
The Uk-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the period saw the highest civilian death toll in coalition raids for a single month since they began on Sept 23, 2014.
Observers claim that the number is higher than those killed by either Russian air strikes, Isil and President Bashar al-assad’s forces over the same period.
Rami Abdel Rahman, SOHR’S director, said that the new deaths brought the overall civilian toll from the coalition’s campaign in Syria to 1,953, including 456 children and 333 women.
Human rights and other monitoring groups have been warning about the rising human cost of the coalition’s air war for months, particularly as the battle for Isil’s so-called capital of Raqqa intensifies.
The US, UK and other coalition members are providing air support for allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the ground as well as guidance from special forces on the ground.
The coalition insists it takes every measure to avoid hitting civilians, but residents say they are increasingly becoming collateral damage.
Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, chairman of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, expressed serious concern earlier this month over the spiralling number of casualties.
“We note in particular that the intensification of air strikes, which have paved the ground for an SDF advance in Raqqa, has resulted not only in staggering loss of civilian life, but has also led to 160,000 civilians fleeing their homes and becoming internally displaced,” he said.