US airstrike killed 2 children in NW Syria last November: Pentagon
The Pentagon has confirmed that two children lost their lives in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib last year, when American fighter jets conducted an airstrike as part of the US-led military campaign allegedly targeting the ISIL Takfiri militants.
The US military's Central Command said on Thursday that an investigation into reports of civilian casualties in the November 5 and 6 airstrikes against the al-Qaeda-linked Khorasan Group near the city of Harem, situated on the border with Turkey and 55 kilometers (34 miles) west of Aleppo, concluded that "non-combatant children" were killed in the raid.
The probe further noted that two adults living nearby were also wounded in the airborne assault.
"We regret the unintentional loss of lives," Lieutenant General James Terry, the head of the US-led air campaign, said in a statement.
Since September 2014, the US along with its regional allies has been conducting airstrikes against the ISIL inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate. This is while many of the countries joining the so-called anti-terror coalition, such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have been staunch supporters of the Takfiri elements fighting against the Syrian government.
The airstrikes by US and its allies are an extension of the US-led aerial campaign against the ISIL positions in Iraq, which started in August 2014.
The ISIL terrorists currently control swathes of territory across Syria and Iraq. They have committed heinous atrocities in both countries, including the mass execution and beheading of local residents and foreign nationals.
Syria has been grappling with a deadly crisis since March 2011. The violence fueled by Takfiri groups has so far claimed the lives of over 222,000 people, according to reports.
Over 76,000 people, including thousands of children, lost their lives in Syria last year alone.
More than 3.8 million Syrians have left their country since the beginning of the crisis. Over 7.2 million Syrians have also become internally displaced, according to the United Nations.
MP/MHB/SS
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