First responders and activists mentioned on Thursday {that a} US strike in Idlib, northwestern Syria, killed 13 individuals, together with youngsters.
The US didn’t specify who the operation focused, however the raid got here after a collection of assaults within the area by the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) group in current weeks.
What we all know concerning the US raid
In a brief assertion early Thursday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby mentioned the counterterrorism operation was “profitable.”
“There have been no US casualties. Extra data will likely be offered because it turns into out there,” the web assertion learn.
The Britain-based monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights mentioned US helicopters landed in a village the place the US-led coalition troops attacked a home and clashed with fighters in rebel-held Idlib.
The raid was carried out within the village of Atmeh within the rebel-held Idlib province
Native residents described the raid as the largest because the 2019 operation that killed IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
US forces reportedly used loudspeakers to ask ladies and kids to depart the world.
Based on an unnamed US official quoted by the AP information company, one of many US helicopters suffered a mechanical drawback throughout the raid and needed to be blown up on the bottom. The New York Occasions additionally reported the incident.
The in a single day raid gave the impression to be carried out in opposition to an al-Qaeda chief, in keeping with the New York Occasions.
A constructing of uncooked cinder blocks bore the scars of an intense battle
Casualties reported
Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman informed the AFP information company that “13 individuals no less than have been killed, amongst them 4 youngsters and three ladies, throughout the operation.”
The Observatory had earlier put the dying toll at 9.
The Syrian Civil Protection, volunteer first responders also called the White Helmets, additionally reported that no less than 13 individuals have been killed, together with six youngsters.
In current months, US particular forces have carried out a number of operations in opposition to jihadist targets in and round Idlib.
The area, largely administered by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group of former members of al-Qaeda’s franchise in Syria, is the final enclave to actively oppose the federal government of President Bashar al-Assad.
However Idlib can also be house to camps for households displaced by the battle of the previous decade. Analysts warn that jihadists use the area as a spot to cover amongst civilians.
fb/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)