Civilian Death Toll In US-Led Coalition Attack On Syrian Deir Ez-Zor Rises To 23 - Reports

DAMASCUS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th November, 2018) The civilian death toll from the airstrikes by the US-led coalition against the Islamic State terror group (IS, banned in Russia) in the east of Syria's Deir ez-Zor province has climbed to 23, local media reported on Thursday, citing sources.

According to the Syrian state-run SANA news agency, the airstrikes targeted the residential areas of the villages of al-Bubadran and al-Sousa on Thursday. The attack also caused the destruction of houses.

Earlier in the day, the agency reported that the strikes hit the village of al-Bubadran, claiming the lives of 17 civilians.

The coalition regularly carries out airstrikes in Deir ez-Zor province. On Friday, media reported that 26 civilians, including women and children, were killed in an airstrike by the coalition on the city of Hajin.

On Wednesday, the SANA agency reported, citing local sources, that the US-led international coalition used prohibited cluster bombs in recent airstrikes on Hajin city and Shaafa village. Previously, multiple Syrian media reports alleged that toxic white phosphorus munitions had also been used in the coalition's repeated attacks in the region.

The Pentagon has dismissed the allegations as false, maintaining that the coalition's airstrikes in Syria conform with the laws of armed conflict.

The US-led coalition of more than 70 countries is conducting military operations against IS in Syria and Iraq. The coalition's operations in Iraq are conducted in cooperation with the Iraqi government, but those in Syria are not authorized by the government of President Bashar Assad or the UN Security Council.