US-Led Coalition Says Will Look Into Reports Of Airstrike Civilian Casualties In Syria

The Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) has not seen reports of civilian casualties in Friday's airstrike in Syria, but will provide an update as soon as information about the airstrike is made available, CJTF-OIR spokesperson Col. Sean Ryan told Sputnik

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2019) The Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) has not seen reports of civilian casualties in Friday's airstrike in Syria, but will provide an update as soon as information about the airstrike is made available, CJTF-OIR spokesperson Col. Sean Ryan told Sputnik.

Earlier on Friday, the state-run Ikhbariya television reported that at least 20 civilians were killed and several more wounded in a US-led coalition airstrike on a village in Syria's Deir ez-Zor province.

"We have not seen these reports, but the coalition takes all instances of civilian causalities seriously," Ryan said. "As part of our stringent planning process, we take extraordinary measures to avoid civilian casualties, and we hold ourselves and our partners accountable.

We will provide an update as soon as the information is available."

The Syrian media have frequently reported about civilian casualties as a result of the US-led coalition's strikes. The Syrian authorities have called on the United Nations to hold those responsible for the civilian casualties accountable and put an end to the US-led coalition's unauthorized presence on Syrian territory.

The US-led coalition of more than 70 countries has said it has conducted military operations against the Islamic State (outlawed in Russia) terror group in Syria and Iraq. The coalition's operations in Syria are not authorized by the government of President Bashar Assad or the UN Security Council.