A US airstrike targeted a group of fleeing civilians outside of the village of Baghouz in eastern Syria on Friday. The attack killed at least 23 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The majority of those slain were civilians, though there are reports
that some of the fleeing people were ISIS members. Activists said they
believe the majority had been displaced from nearby areas, and were
fleeing again.
This comes amid the latest offensive by US-backed Kurdish forces against
the three ISIS towns in eastern Syria, and the adjoining villages.
These areas have been repeatedly attacked, lost and regained, and every
time it leads to a number of displaced civilians.
US airstrikes against this area, always presented as support for the
Kurdish offensive, has tended to inflict a number of civilian casualties
disproportionate for the relatively small population of the area, and
the precision which the US claims to have in its bombings.
US Airstrike Kills 23 in Eastern Syria, Mostly Fleeing Civilians
Strike hit people fleeing ongoing offensive
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.
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