AntiWar.com & Xinhua News & Zaman Al Wasl News – 2018-11-17 00:04:22
US Airstrikes Killed Over 100 Civilians in Eastern Syria This Week
US Airstrikes Killed Over
100 Civilians in Eastern Syria This Week
At least 18 killed on Thursday, mostly children
Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com
(November 15, 2018) — Over the past week, daily US airstrikes against a handful of towns in eastern Syria have killed well over 100 civilians, mainly women and children. The towns are under ISIS control, and are near the Iraqi border.
The Kurdish YPG has been attacking the ISIS towns, with limited success, and the US has made much of its desire to provide air support. Most of the airstrikes are just hitting homes across the towns, killing a lot of women and children within.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has, in their reports, described many of the civilians as “ISIS family members,†though it’s not clear how either they or the US could identify which houses being bombed belong to whom.
The strikes slow no sign of slowing down. On Thursday, US strikes killed at least 18 civilians in the same towns. 13 of those slain were identified as children. The US has not commented on these strikes.
US-led Airstrikes Kill
At Least 105 in 7 Days in Eastern Syria
Xinhua News
DAMASCUS (November 16, 2018) — At least 105 people have been killed over the past seven days in Syria’s eastern province of Deir al-Zour as a result of US-led airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) positions, a war monitor reported Thursday.
A total of 80 children and women were among those killed by the intense US-led airstrikes that have been targeting the last IS-held pocket in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The London-based watchdog said the death toll will likely rise as people are still stuck in the rubble.
Airstrikes on the last IS-held pocket on the eastern bank of Euphrates River have recently intensified as the U.S-backed Kurdish militias were planning a second wave of attacks on the IS after a failed attempt on Sept. 10.
On Saturday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry renewed in a statement its call on the UN to form “an independent international mechanism” to investigate the “crimes of the Washington coalition” and punish the perpetrators.
The Syrian government has long questioned the intention of the US-led operations in this oil-rich area inside Syria.
13 Children, 4 Women Killed in
US-led Airstrikes on Eastern Deir Ezzor, Syria
Zaman Al Wasl News
(November 15, 2018) — At least 18 civilians, including 13 children and 4 women, have been killed by US-led coalition airstrikes on Syria’s eastern province of Deir Ezzor, Daesh News Agency said Thursday.
Amaq reported that the US-led airstrikes on the villages of Baghouz and al-Sousa near the Iraqi border had left dozens killed and wounded.
At least 35 people, including women and children, killed by US-led airstrikes on Tuesday.
The Syrian state-run news agency SANA said over 60 civilians have been killed or injured by a US-led coalition airstrike on al-Sha’fah.
Previously, another coalition airstrike on the city of Hajin killed at least 15 civilians. The Syrian Ikhbariya TV channel reported then that the majority among those killed were women and children.
The Kurdish-led forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition said on Sunday that it was resuming its offensive against Daesh in eastern Syria.
The Syrian Democratic Forces, an Arab-Kurdish alliance, had announced it was suspending its operation in Deir Ezzor on October 31 after Turkey shelled Kurdish militia posts in northern Syria.
The SDF said the resumption followed “intensive contacts” with the international coalition and “strong diplomatic activity” to defuse the crisis.
“The leadership of the Syrian Democratic Forces has decided to resume military operations against the Islamic State group [Daesh], and work towards its definitive defeat,” the force said in an online statement.
“While it remains determined to chase down terrorism, [the SDF] also confirms its determination to protect the northern border of Syria,” it added.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights activist group said the operation had not yet restarted, but that SDF reinforcements had been sent to the area.
However it said the international coalition had continued to conduct air raids on the area, killing dozens of militants as well as civilians.
Since the Syrian revolution erupted in 2011, more than 470,000 people have been killed, and more than 6 million people have been displaced.
Zaman Al Wasl and Agencies.
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