Coalition airstrikes kill 22 civilians in eastern Syria

By Adham Kako

DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria

At least 22 civilians have been killed in U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in eastern Syria’s Deir Ez-Zor province, according to local sources on Saturday.

The sources said a coalition airstrike targeted a mosque in the town of al-Susah in eastern Deir Ez- during the weekly Friday prayer, killing 16 people.

Six more civilians were killed in another strike that hit a local religious institute in Hajin city in the same province, the sources added.

Hajin has been the scene of constant clashes between YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorist groups.

Since Wednesday, 65 civilians have been killed in Deir Ez-Zor province in airstrikes carried out by the U.S.-led international coalition.

On Thursday, 30 civilians, including two children, were killed in a coalition airstrike on Ammar ben Yasir mosque in Al-Susah. Thirteen more people were killed in the same town on Wednesday.

Daesh currently holds control of Hajin city, the towns of Al-Susah, Al- as well as the villages of Al-Muhasan and Bu-Khater.

YPG/PKK maintains in the eastern part of the Euphrates River which runs through Deir Ez-Zor province.

With U.S. and French support, the YPG/PKK terrorist group recently launched an offensive against Deir -Zor’s city of Hajin with a view to retaking it from Daesh.

The number of Daesh terrorists now in Hajin is estimated at some 1,000 out of an estimated 2,500 throughout the entire Deir -Zor province.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.