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US-led coalition mistakenly kills 18 allies in Syria

April 13, 2017 at 5:54 pm

A US-led airstrike mistakenly killed 18 members of a Kurdish and Arab militia backed by Washington south of the Syrian city of Tabqa, the Pentagon said today.

The US-led coalition forces struck the position on Tuesday after another partner in the fight wrongly told them it was occupied by Daesh militants, the Pentagon said.

“The target location was actually a forward Syrian Democratic Forces fighting position,” the statement added.

The SDF is fighting in a campaign to encircle and ultimately capture Raqqa city, Daesh’s main base of operations in Syria.

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The SDF said its leadership was working with the coalition to investigate the incident and prevent it from happening again.

“In the area of military operations near Tabqa and as a result of error, a painful incident took place” causing several casualties, the SDF said in a statement.