The US-led coalition fighting the ISIS extremist group has confirmed another 51 “unintentional civilian deaths” caused by its airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, raising the number of civilians it has acknowledged killing since 2014 to at least 786.
The international coalition conducted 27,566 airstrikes on ISIS targets between September 2014 and September 2017. During this time, 1,266 reports of civilian casualties were made, but the coalition found only 194 of these to be credible.
As many as 17 Syrian rights groups and civil society organizations on Tuesday called on the US-led coalition forces to place respect for basic human rights at the top of their priorities as military operations in Deir Ezzor province continue to cause mounting civilian casualties.
The NGOs and rights groups urged the US-led coalition and local partners to abide by international law, especially the war laws during military operations; take all necessary precautions to avoid causing civilian casualties; and conduct transparent investigations into the airstrikes and attacks that left civilian casualties.
The Syrian Coalition on Tuesday condemned “the series of brutal massacres claiming the lives of scores of civilians that have been committed by forces of the Russian occupation, the Assad regime, the Iranian terrorist militias, and the ISIS extremist group.” (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
