Activists said that the US-led anti-ISIS coalition committed two massacres in rural Deir Ezzor claiming the lives of children and women as battles continued between the PYD militia and ISIS in its last remaining pockets in the province.
Local activists said that seven civilians, including two women and a child, were killed in airstrikes by the coalition forces following clashes between the PYD militia and ISIS in the town of Al-Kashkiya at dawn on Wednesday. They said that aircraft of the international strafed the area following the clashes.
On Thursday, the international coalition committed another massacre claiming the lives of 11 civilians from the same family, including eight children, when an airstrike directly hit their house in the town of Al-Shaafa in eastern rural Deir Ezzor. The town is one of the last remaining major towns still being held by militants of the ISIS extremist group.
Local activists said that jets of the international coalition targeted the house of Suleiman Mohammed al-Ahdab, killing three members of his family and eight children all under the age of nine.
The two massacres followed a series of massacres that were carried out by the forces of the international coalition against civilians in the region. On December 16, 2018, jets of the coalition forces targeted a mosque in eastern rural Deir Ezzor, killing dozens of civilians.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) earlier said that it had recorded at least eight massacres across Syria in November, the majority of which were carried out by the international coalition forces. It said that the Assad regime bears part of the responsibility.
The Syrian Coalition earlier called for an end to air strikes by the international coalition against populated areas in Deir Ezzor province. It called for the launch of an immediate investigation into crimes against the civilian population and ensuring that such crimes are not repeated. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
