Possible US Airstrike Kills 22 Civilians in Eastern Syria

Attack Killed 10 Children in ISIS-Held Village

by Jason Ditz

An airstrike carried out by an as-yet-unidentified force targeted a village in eastern Syria’s Deir Ezzor Province, killing at least 22 civilians, including 10 children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Though several nations are conducting airstrikes across Syria at any given time, the US-led coalition is the primary force carrying out most of the strikes in Deir Ezzor, a territory largely held by ISIS. That means they are the most likely to have carried out this particular strike.

ISIS territory within Syria is mostly limited to the nation’s east, including the Deir Ezzor Province, the area around Palmyra, and much of the Raqqa Province. They also control the city of al-Bab, which is being contested by the Turkish military at present.

ISIS is fighting on several different fronts, with Syria and Russia’s near term effort being to recover Palmyra, Turkey targeting al-Bab, and the US-backed Kurds going after Raqqa. The US coalition is also targeting ISIS elsewhere with airstrikes, including in Iraq and in Deir Ezzor.