Agence France-Presse & AntiWar.com – 2018-06-04 09:21:05
https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/family-killed-by-us-coalition-strikes-on-northeastern-syria-1.736189
Family Killed by US
Coalition Strikes on Northeastern Syria
Strikes were in support of Kurdish forces
attempting to dislodge ISIS remnants
Agence France-Presse
(June 2, 2018) — At least 12 civilians — members of the same family — have been killed in US-led coalition raids on ISIS in northeastern Syria, a monitor said on Saturday.
“The air strikes and artillery fire [Friday night] by the international coalition on the village of Hidaj, held by IS in the southern sector of Hasakeh province, killed at least 12 people,” the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, using another acronym for ISIS.
The civilians — including two women and their children — belonged to the same family, it added.
The deaths bring to “20 the number of civilians killed by the coalition in 24 hours east of the Euphrates River,” said the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources across Syria for its reports.
On Thursday, eight other civilians were killed in coalition strikes in Deir Ezzor province, south of Hasakeh.
ISIS fighters have lost most of the self-proclaimed “caliphate” they once controlled in large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq since 2014.
Today, the militants hold less than three percent of Syria, according to the Observatory.
In Deir Ezzor, the mainly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces — supported by the US-led coalition — are trying to dislodge militants from the east bank of the Euphrates.
The coalition said on Friday its airstrikes in Syria and Iraq had “unintentionally” killed 892 civilians since its bombing campaign began nearly four years ago. More than 350,000 people have been killed in Syria’s war since it started in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests. It has since spiraled into a complex conflict involving world powers and foreign militants.
US Airstrikes Kill at Least 20 Syrian Civilians Over Weekend
Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com
(June 3, 2018) — US and coalition airstrikes over the weekend have killed at least 20 civilians in northeastern Syria, with eight killed in an attack in Deir Ezzor Province, and 12 more, all members of a single family, killed in an attack on the village of Hidaj, in Hasakeh Province.
The strikes targeted remote areas in both provinces along the Euphrates River, in desert areas where ISIS forces are believed to have fleed. There was no indication that either strike actually hit any ISIS fighters, however.
That’s been an ongoing problem, as while ISIS routed quickly and scattered out of the cities, where exactly they all ended up is less clear. The US is interested in picking up airstrikes against ISIS in a new offensive, but isn’t entirely sure where to aim them.
The US has yet to comment on either of the incidents. This is not uncommon, as while watchdog groups have documented massive numbers of civilian deaths in US strikes, the Pentagon confirms only a very small fraction of them.
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