Dan Tri reported dead after the US conducted an anti-terrorist air strike in Syria
Sources on the ground reported multiple deaths. At least 13 people were killed in clashes that took place during and after the raid – including six children and four women – according to the Syrian civil protection group, White Helmets. There were no US casualties, according to the Pentagon.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement late Wednesday night that the mission was carried out by US Central Command, the agency that controls military operations and operations in the Middle East.
The Pentagon’s three-sentence statement did not reveal the target for the special operations mission or whether there were any indications of civilian casualties. But witnesses and rescue workers told CNN that the shelling and explosions preceded an air strike by US forces shortly after midnight and targeted a house in the Syria-Turkey border area. Ky, Atmeh, in the rebel-held Idlib area.
A witness in Atmeh, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, said machine gunfire erupted from at least three helicopters overhead, followed by an explosion minutes later. The area is heavily populated by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly affiliated with al Qaeda.
“I heard from afar an Arabic speaker with an Iraqi accent asking families to evacuate the area and they would be safe,” the witness said. “I saw in the distance a machine gun shooting back from the ground towards the helicopter.”
The witness said two of the three helicopters he saw landed an hour after the clash began. “Around 3:20 a.m. the helicopter left and I saw a light in the distance that looked like a fire,” the witness said.
The witness also said he heard what sounded like drone strikes, and said HTS forces were preventing civilians from entering the area.
CNN has contacted Central Command.
And then in December, the military targeted Musab Kinan, a senior leader of al Qaeda branch Hurras al-Din, near Idlib. Central Command opened an investigation into possible civilian casualties from the attack, but the Pentagon was unable to provide an update at the time.