US-led coalition’s raids ‘kill 20 civilians’ near Raqqa
A US-led coalition airstrike killed 20 civilians, including two children, overnight in a village near the Islamic State group’s Syrian stronghold of Raqqa, a monitor said on Wednesday.
The coalition confirmed that it had carried out strikes in the area, but said it was investigating whether they had killed civilians. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of people were also wounded in the strikes on Tuesday night on the village of Al-Heisha, 40 km north of Raqqa.
“The toll has risen to 20 civilians, including nine women and two children,” Observatory chief Rami Abdul Rahman said.
The monitor had earlier given a death toll of 16. Abdul Rahman said 32 people were also injured in the strikes, adding that all the casualties were civilians.
The Observatory said the latest deaths brought the number of civilians killed since US-led air strikes in Syria began in September 2014 to 680, including 169 children.
Al-Heisha is controlled by IS and has been a target in a new assault by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as it pushes to capture the jihadists’ bastion of Raqa.
Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman for the coalition, told AFP that an “initial assessment” confirmed there had been strikes in the area.
“After an initial assessment of strike logs against the date and location of the alleged civilian casualties, the coalition confirms it did conduct strikes in the area described in the allegation,” he said.
“However, more specific information is needed to conclusively determine responsibility.” The Syrian Army said it had taken a strategic district of Aleppo on Tuesday in what would mark the most important advance in the divided city by Damascus and its allies in weeks, but rebels said the battle was not over.
The 1070 Apartments district is located on the southwestern outskirts of Aleppo and lies alongside the government’s corridor into the parts of the city that it controls. A military source said the army was in complete control of the area and surrounding hills.