17 March 2017, 16:18 GMT
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A probe by the US Central Command has found that a US airstrike in March hit a building that was part of a "mosque complex" in northern Syria, US officials told a local news channel on Thursday.
US drones and an aircraft flattened the building in the village of Al-Jineh in the Aleppo province where the Department of Defense said an Islamist meeting was being held. The strike reportedly killed at least 42 civilians.
Unnamed US officials told the CNN that a military investigation confirmed the building had indeed been used for religious purposes and that "religious use" was at times its primary function.
The Pentagon initially denied the building had any relation to the mosque that stood some 40 feet away. Any religious structure is typically off limits to military strikes. The CNN said it was not clear whether the bombed building had been removed from the no-hit list.
