US Coalition Kills Civilians in Northwest Syria Airstrikes

Attacks Targeted 'Moderate' Islamist Faction

Overnight, warplanes from the US-led coalition attacked a rebel base belonging to the Islamic Front, the moderate Islamist faction in the anti-Assad rebellion, near a northwestern border crossing between Syria and Turkey.

The attacks hit not only the base but the surrounding countryside in Idlib Province, killing a number of civilians, including an unspecified number of children.

The Pentagon has insisted that its restrictions on airstrikes designed to limit civil deaths do not apply in Syria and Iraq as open combat zones, and a growing number of incidents of civilian deaths have been reported

This is also the first time the coalition is confirmed to have attacked an Islamic Front target, meaning they are not only targeting ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra, but also some of the more moderate factions.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.