The international anti-ISIS coalition forces committed a new massacre east of Deir Ezzor on Wednesday when its jets bombed the town of Hajeen, killing 25 civilians and injuring dozens.
Local activists said that no fewer than 40 airstrikes by the international coalition aircraft hit the town using high-explosive missiles. The airstrikes mainly targeted the town’s main hospital, a flour warehouse, and civilian homes inside the town of Hajeen.
Similar airstrikes killed three children and four women in Hajeen on Tuesday. Moreover, over 20 people, including women and children, were also killed in similar attacks on the town of Soussa in rural Deir Ezzor.
Civilians trapped in the town of Hajeen and surrounding villages are suffering extremely dire humanitarian situation due to the intensification of fighting in the area between the PYD militias and ISIS. Their suffering has further worsened because of the intensifying aerial bombardment which is causing dozens of civilian casualties on almost daily basis.
The Syrian Coalition earlier called for an immediate halt to airstrikes by the international coalition forces targeting populated areas in the countryside of Deir Ezzor. It stressed the need for a serious investigation into the “crime” against the civilian population as well as all crimes affecting civilians. It also stressed the need to hold those responsible to account and ensure that these crimes are not repeated.
In late November, Amnesty International launched a new crowdsourcing data project to help plot how the US-led military coalition’s bombings destroyed almost 80 percent of the city of Raqqa in 2017.
Amnesty said its field investigations and analysis of satellite imagery were aimed at prompting the US-led coalition to admit responsibility for the devastation and conduct a careful investigation into the death of hundreds of civilians in its bombing campaign in Raqqa. According to the UN estimates, the bombings destroyed or damaged over 10,000 buildings or 80% of the city. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
