Xinhua, Damascus :
At least 30 people were killed and dozens of others wounded overnight by U.S.-led airstrikes in the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zour, state news agency SANA reported Friday.
The airstrikes targeted the residential areas in the towns of Baghour Foqani and Souseh on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River near Al-Bukamal city in eastern Deir al-Zour, it said.
The death toll was likely to rise as many of the wounded are in critical condition, it added.
Dozens of homes were destroyed in the towns, said SANA, accusing the U.S.-led coalition of attacking the towns to punish the local residents for refusing the entry of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The towns are located inside the small pocket controlled by the militant group Islamic State (IS) in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour.
The Syrian government has repeatedly accused the United States of targeting civilians in Syria, while urging the UN to put an end to the coalition’s military operations in Syria.
The U.S. coalition has been operating in Syria since 2014, supporting the Kurdish-led groups in northern Syria in the fight against IS.
The Syrian government, however, contended that the real goal of the coalition is to prolong the crisis in Syria as it uses IS as a pretext to further destabilize the country.
The SDF, with US-led air and ground support, has surrounded Tabqa, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Raqqa. They say they are working to clear Islamic State militants out of Jalab Valley, north of Raqqa.
The SDF says it wants to isolate Raqqa before attacking it. Their closest position is less than eight kilometers (five miles) northeast of the city. But the countryside south of Raqqa is still under IS control. It is unclear how many stages are planned for the campaign.
In a separate development, the international chemical weapons watchdog is testing samples from a suspected nerve gas attack that killed at least 87 people in Syria last week and could produce a report on the matter within three weeks, the British delegation to the commission said Thursday.
The report comes one day after Russia vetoed a Western-backed UN Security Council resolution demanding a speedy probe into the April 4 attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun, which has been widely blamed on government forces. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the veto left Moscow, a key ally of the Syrian government, with “a lot to prove.”
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has a standing fact-finding mission on Syria to investigate alleged chemical weapons attacks, but does not apportion blame. The OPCW’s executive council held a session of its executive council on Thursday to address the attack on Khan Sheikhoun, in the northern rebel-held province of Idlib.
Britain’s delegation to the OPCW tweeted from the executive session that the “Fact Finding Mission is working to gather evidence” and has already started testing samples in a lab.
The US blamed the Syrian government for the attack and fired 59 missiles at an air base in central Syria in response, killing nine people.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he expected the OPCW to conduct an extensive probe into the attack, and insisted the organization visit both Khan Sheikhoun and the air base struck by US missiles.
Russia has said chemicals were released in Khan Sheikhoun when a Syrian airstrike hit an insurgent arms factory that contained chemical weapons. Syria has denied ever using chemical weapons.
The Syrian army said hundreds of Islamic State fighters as well as civilians were killed when a US-led coalition airstrike hit a militant position in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.
It said white smoke billowing from the area of the strike turned yellow, “most likely because of the explosion of a large warehouse containing large quantities of toxic substances.” It said that the airstrike showed that militants have chemical weapons in their possession.
Opposition activist Omar Abu Laila, who is from Deir el-Zour and currently lives in Europe, denied that report. Abu Laila is with Deir Ezzor 24, an activist group that has reporters throughout the eastern province.
US Air Force Col. John L. Dorrian, a spokesperson for the coalition mission – dubbed Operation Inherent Resolve – rejected the Syrian claim, writing in a Twitter post that the reports are “not true! Intentional misinformation … again!”
At least 30 people were killed and dozens of others wounded overnight by U.S.-led airstrikes in the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zour, state news agency SANA reported Friday.
The airstrikes targeted the residential areas in the towns of Baghour Foqani and Souseh on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River near Al-Bukamal city in eastern Deir al-Zour, it said.
The death toll was likely to rise as many of the wounded are in critical condition, it added.
Dozens of homes were destroyed in the towns, said SANA, accusing the U.S.-led coalition of attacking the towns to punish the local residents for refusing the entry of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The towns are located inside the small pocket controlled by the militant group Islamic State (IS) in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour.
The Syrian government has repeatedly accused the United States of targeting civilians in Syria, while urging the UN to put an end to the coalition’s military operations in Syria.
The U.S. coalition has been operating in Syria since 2014, supporting the Kurdish-led groups in northern Syria in the fight against IS.
The Syrian government, however, contended that the real goal of the coalition is to prolong the crisis in Syria as it uses IS as a pretext to further destabilize the country.
The SDF, with US-led air and ground support, has surrounded Tabqa, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Raqqa. They say they are working to clear Islamic State militants out of Jalab Valley, north of Raqqa.
The SDF says it wants to isolate Raqqa before attacking it. Their closest position is less than eight kilometers (five miles) northeast of the city. But the countryside south of Raqqa is still under IS control. It is unclear how many stages are planned for the campaign.
In a separate development, the international chemical weapons watchdog is testing samples from a suspected nerve gas attack that killed at least 87 people in Syria last week and could produce a report on the matter within three weeks, the British delegation to the commission said Thursday.
The report comes one day after Russia vetoed a Western-backed UN Security Council resolution demanding a speedy probe into the April 4 attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun, which has been widely blamed on government forces. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the veto left Moscow, a key ally of the Syrian government, with “a lot to prove.”
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has a standing fact-finding mission on Syria to investigate alleged chemical weapons attacks, but does not apportion blame. The OPCW’s executive council held a session of its executive council on Thursday to address the attack on Khan Sheikhoun, in the northern rebel-held province of Idlib.
Britain’s delegation to the OPCW tweeted from the executive session that the “Fact Finding Mission is working to gather evidence” and has already started testing samples in a lab.
The US blamed the Syrian government for the attack and fired 59 missiles at an air base in central Syria in response, killing nine people.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he expected the OPCW to conduct an extensive probe into the attack, and insisted the organization visit both Khan Sheikhoun and the air base struck by US missiles.
Russia has said chemicals were released in Khan Sheikhoun when a Syrian airstrike hit an insurgent arms factory that contained chemical weapons. Syria has denied ever using chemical weapons.
The Syrian army said hundreds of Islamic State fighters as well as civilians were killed when a US-led coalition airstrike hit a militant position in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.
It said white smoke billowing from the area of the strike turned yellow, “most likely because of the explosion of a large warehouse containing large quantities of toxic substances.” It said that the airstrike showed that militants have chemical weapons in their possession.
Opposition activist Omar Abu Laila, who is from Deir el-Zour and currently lives in Europe, denied that report. Abu Laila is with Deir Ezzor 24, an activist group that has reporters throughout the eastern province.
US Air Force Col. John L. Dorrian, a spokesperson for the coalition mission – dubbed Operation Inherent Resolve – rejected the Syrian claim, writing in a Twitter post that the reports are “not true! Intentional misinformation … again!”
