At Least 11 Civilians Killed as US-Led Coalition Pounds Deir ez-Zor, Syria

19:30 GMT, 3 January 2019

The US-led coalition regularly carries out airstrikes in the eastern Deir ez-Zor province and has recently been concentrating its air power on Hajin and Sha'afa.

Sputnik

The coalition's activities in Syria are not authorized by the Syrian government, nor by the UN Security Council.

The Thursday airstrike by the US-led coalition on Syria’s eastern province of Deir ez-Zor killed 11 members of one family, Syrian state broadcaster Al Ikhbariya reported. The coalition has pounded the town of Sha'afa.

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In November, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported that the US-led coalition had used internationally prohibited cluster bombs in airstrikes on Hajin and Sha'afa. 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 US Defense Department has dismissed the allegations as false, maintaining that the coalition’s airstrikes in Syria conform with the laws of armed conflict.

The Syrian authorities have repeatedly urged the United Nations to take measures targeting the perpetrators of the attacks and put an end to the coalition's unauthorized presence in Syria.