WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US-led anti-terrorist coalition will assess the recent reports on airstrikes in the Syrian province of Raqqa, which allegedly resulted in the deaths of 20 civilians, a spokesperson for the US Department of Defense told Sputnik.
"The Coalition takes all allegations of civilian casualties seriously and will assess these allegations, as we do all allegations of possible civilian casualties. The results of the assessment will be published in a monthly civilian casualty report press release with the results of all credible and non-credible allegations, and those still pending assessment," the spokesperson said.
"The Coalition respects human life and is assisting partner forces in their effort to liberate their land from ISIS while safeguarding civilians. Coalition forces comply with the law of armed conflict and take all reasonable precautions during the planning and execution of airstrikes to reduce the risk of harm to civilians. Our goal is always for zero civilian casualties," the spokesperson added.
The US-led coalition of 68 nations is conducting airstrikes, ground-based and rocket-propelled artillery fire in Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State (Daesh) terrorist group. The coalition supports the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which predominately consists of Kurdish fighters but also includes members of the Syrian Arab Coalition.
On May 15, an airstrike carried out by the coalition in Syria's eastern town of Al Bukamal reportedly killed at least 31 civilians and injured many others.
