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Coalition airstrikes kill 22 civilians in eastern Syria

October 20, 2018 at 3:59 pm

Syrians are seen with their belongings as they leave their hometown due to the attacks in Deir ez-Zor, Syria on 11 October 2017 [Adnan Hüseyin/Anadolu Agency]

At least 22 civilians have been killed in US-led coalition airstrikes in eastern Syria’s Deir Ez-Zor province, according to local sources on Saturday, reports Anadolu Agency.

US strike Syria – Cartoon [Cartoon Latuff/MiddleEastMonitor]

The sources said a coalition airstrike targeted a mosque in the town of al-Susah in eastern Deir Ez-Zor during the weekly Friday prayer, killing 16 people.

Six more civilians were killed in another strike that hit a local religious institute in Hajin city in the same province, the sources added.

Hajin has been the scene of constant clashes between YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorist groups.

Since Wednesday, 65 civilians have been killed in Deir Ez-Zor province in airstrikes carried out by the US-led international coalition.

On Thursday, 30 civilians, including two children, were killed in a coalition airstrike on Ammar ben Yasir mosque in Al-Susah. Thirteen more people were killed in the same town on Wednesday.

READ: Over 1 million besieged in Syria

Daesh currently holds control of Hajin city, the towns of Al-Susah, Al-Shaafah as well as the villages of Al-Muhasan and Bu-Khater.

YPG/PKK maintains a presence in the eastern part of the Euphrates River which runs through Deir Ez-Zor province.

With US and French support, the YPG/PKK terrorist group recently launched an offensive against Deir ez-Zor’s city of Hajin with a view to retaking it from Daesh.

READ: Death toll rises to 341 as Daesh, SDF battle continues in Syria

The number of Daesh terrorists now in Hajin is estimated at some 1,000 out of an estimated 2,500 throughout the entire Deir ez-Zor province.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.