Published
May 04th 2015
04:44am
US says no Syrian civilians killed in coalition air strike Assad gives Alawites 48 hours to leave Damascus; pro-regime families told to go to city of Latakia
An EA-18G launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson on March 19, 2015 as it takes part in strike operations in Iraq and Syria ( Scott Fenaroli (US Navy/AFP/File) )"
Scott Fenaroli (US Navy/AFP/File)"
The US military denied a report that strikes led by Washington had killed at least 52 civilians in northern Syria earlier this week, saying those killed were actually fighters.
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor director Rami Abdel Rahman had told AFP that seven children were among the dead from US-led coalition strikes overnight Thursday into Friday on the village of Birmahle in Aleppo province.
He had warned the toll could rise as rescuers were battling to save 13 people trapped under rubble.
"US Central Command can confirm that Coalition forces conducted airstrikes in the vicinity of Birmahle, Syria, on April 30, destroying several ISIL fighting positions and striking more than 50 ISIL fighters," command spokesman Major Curt Kellogg said in a statement, using an acronym by which the Islamic State group is known.
"We currently have no indication that any civilians were killed in these strikes."
Iraqi soldiers fire towards Islamic State group positions in the Garma district, west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, on April 26, 2015 ( Ahmad Al-Rubaye (AFP/File) )"Ahmad Al-Rubaye (AFP/File)"
Kurdish militiamen and Syrian rebel fighters were clashing with IS fighters in a town roughly one mile (two kilometers) away from Birmahle at the time of the strikes.
"Prior to the airstrikes, Kurdish forces, who held the town before leaving after being attacked by ISIL, reported there were no civilians present in that location and that there had not been any civilians present for two weeks prior to the Coalition airstrikes," Kellogg said.
"We have significant mitigation measures in place within the targeting process and during the conduct of operations to reduce the potential risks of collateral damage and civilian casualties.
"We work extremely hard to be precise in the application of our airstrikes and take all allegations of civilian casualties very seriously."
Abdel Rahman had indicated that the village is inhabited by civilians only with no IS presence.
Air strikes by the international coalition have supported Kurdish militias fighting IS in Aleppo province, most notably in the flashpoint border town of Kobane, which is near Birmahle.
Backed by the strikes, Kurdish fighters drove fighters out of Kobane in January.
'Leave Damascus'
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad meanwhile was reported to struggle to maintain control of the city of Damascus and has alerted pro-regime Alawite families that they must vacate their homes in the next 48 hours, the Saudi Okaz daily newspaper reported Sunday.
According to the report, Syrian intelligence services notified the Alawites that they must make their way to Latakia, a port city that has been subjected to rebel and Islamist offensives in recent days.
The Alawite community is an offshoot of Shiite Islam and is the sect of Assad, who is facing a deadly rebellion by mostly Sunni rebels seeking to topple him.
Earlier in the day, Syria's army cut the last main supply route for a rebel bastion east of Damascus, further tightening a crippling siege on the area, a monitor and state media said.
Mahmoud Taha (AFP)"A rebel fighter loads an anti-tank missile during fighting against pro-regime forces on the outskirts of Syria's Mediterranean port city of Latakia, on June 1, 2014"
"The regime has cut off the last main road for rebels leading out of Eastern Ghouta," the main opposition stronghold in Damascus province, said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights chief Rami Abdel Rahman.
He said army units had taken over almost all of the village of Maydaa, which lies along a road running east which rebels use to bring food and reinforcements into besieged neighborhoods.
Syria's official news agency SANA quoted a military official as saying the army had taken full control of Maydaa.
"A large number of terrorists are thought to be dead," SANA reported, adding that army units "shut the last route for terrorists" that ran east.
Eastern Ghouta has been under a devastating government siege for nearly two years in an attempt to break the rebel hold over the area.
Abdel Rahman told Agence France Presse rebels could still rely on a few small roads that lead out of Eastern Ghouta but said they were "very dangerous."
He said there were clashes underway in Maydaa between Syrian regime forces and Jaysh al-Islam, the most powerful rebel group operating in the area.
Jaysh al-Islam spokesman Islam Alloush said Syrian troops tried to overrun Maydaa but were "ambushed" by the rebels.
"Clashes are still underway but if the army succeeds in taking Maydaa they could use it as a launchpad to storm Eastern Ghouta," Alloush told AFP by telephone from Turkey.
The rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta has been subjected to massive regime bombardments for months.
Syria's four-year conflict began with anti-regime protests in mid-March 2011 and spiraled into a bloody war after a harsh government crackdown on demonstrators.
More than 210,000 people have been killed in the conflict, according to the Observatory.
(with AFP)
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