United States forces conducted night raids in the northwestern province of Idlib, held by Syrian rebels. No incidents have been reported in the United States. However, there can be unintentional deaths on the ground.Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement released early Thursday that the United States' US-controlled Special Operations Forces "in northwest Syria this evening, Central Command conducted a counter-terrorism operation." "The mission went off without a hitch." The United States was not represented. Loss of Life "As new information becomes available, we will provide it."
After hours of speculation from local reports, some of which suggested civilian casualties, the president made his remarks.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist affiliated with the country's exiled opposition, US-led coalition helicopters bombed an area between the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, west of the village of Deir Ballat and those personnel was left for who called. And before the children enter the house. The violent clashes occurred as part of an operation aimed at a non-Syrian jihadist figure, according to the observatory, according to unnamed sources.
According to the activist network, the operation was similar to the Idlib raid in October 2019, which resulted in the death of then ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, which also involved the use of planes from the "Khurab Ashek" base located in Kobani. Ain al-Arab. The observatory identified the target location as the village of Atmeh, echoing other reports from people following the operation.
According to the report, nine people also died, of whom two were children and one of whom was a woman.
Newsweek was unable to confirm the reports, but videos shared on social media showed frantic scenes, including the voice of a man ordering civilians to flee as a US military operation. or an accent from a different country
Other unconfirmed footage shows a member of the White Helmets rescue group, also known as the Syrian Civil Defense, rescuing a young child after the operation. Others showed graphic depictions of those killed. According to the group, a team of people were active in the area, confirmed to Newsweek.
According to a flight monitor after Newsweek, several unidentified planes were also seen moving around the area where the alleged operation took place.
At least nine bodies were discovered after the devastation, including women and children, according to the pro-opposition news outlet Sham News Network. Other journalists and organizations, including the Almohar Media Network, carried similar reports.
Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent put the death toll at ten, including seven children.
Neither the US-led coalition nor the US-led coalition has been successful in achieving its objectives. Newsweek contacted Central Command for comment, but no one responded.
Idlib is the last province largely controlled by rebels and jihadists who rose in 2011 after a crackdown on widespread protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which continue to this day. The United States insurgency was supported by the US and several Western and regional allies, but in 2015, the Pentagon closed its support to the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led group that controls Syria's northeast. Gave.
When contacted for comment, Syrian Democratic Forces spokesman Farhad Shami told Newsweek he had "no details" about the operation and that the appropriate organization to respond would be a US-led international group.
Turkish-backed rebels as well as a variety of jihadist groups operating in Idlib, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly known as the Nusra Front, and al-Qaeda-affiliated Huras al-Din, which is a part of the United States is in America. many occasions. Drone strikes Although these militants oppose ISIS, the group that once controlled large areas of Syria and Iraq, as shown by Baghdadi's whereabouts, is also operating here.
Baghdadi's successor, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, is believed to be hiding somewhere between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In this part of the US Syria, air and ground raids are extremely rare, and the operation to kill Baghdadi is the last known example of such an attack.
The Syrian government and Russian Allied warships have also attacked the region on a regular basis, with activists accusing Damascus and Moscow of killing civilians. The United States has maintained opposition to Assad and imposed tough sanctions on his government, and has strangled an economy already devastated by the war and the financial crisis in Lebanon.
Turkish warplanes and drones are flying over northern Syria on a regular basis, sometimes targeting positions of Syrian democratic forces further east, raising humanitarian concerns on the ground and abroad.
While a recent Newsweek report found that President Joe Biden's first year in office saw fewer civilian deaths than three of his predecessors' prior years in office, the administration came under fire after a drone strike in Afghanistan's capital. in which ten civilians were killed. Rather than an ISIS operative of a local Khorasan ally, the target was an aid worker who was killed along with nine members of his family.
The Pentagon said it would investigate the incident, but no one would face punishment. However, another incident occurred in Idlib in December, when a drone attack following the death of a senior al-Qaeda leader also injured a family traveling in a nearby car.
Idlib has become densely populated as a result of internal displacement brought about by the Syrian civil war. The population is estimated to be between two and four million people, of whom up to a million are refugees, whose suffering has been exacerbated by cold weather, which has made the vast camps unsuitable.
The United Nations Organization During a press conference last week, Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen pointed to the humanitarian crisis in the region of Syria and others. "Airstrikes in Idlib, allegedly killing civilians and damage to civilian infrastructure," he said, referring to one of the country's other tragedies.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the reorganization of the US military the next day. The Army's policy on civilian damage assessment has been reformed, with the goal of unveiling a new framework within 90 days. "Immediate steps," he said, "report to me, including setting up a civil harm center of excellence, which will force us to learn from our mistakes and make timely changes."
"I know how hard we work to keep civilians safe and obey the law of armed conflict," Austin said at the time. "But I have also said that we need to do better, and we will," he said. "It's a top priority for me, and we'll make sure we're transparent as we work on this important project."
