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U.S. says Al-Jina, Syria bombing was legal; rights group disputes findings
Source: Reuters
WORLD NEWS | Wed Jun 7, 2017 | 4:39pm EDT
U.S. says Syria bombing was legal; rights group disputes findings
A U.S. military investigator said on Wednesday that a March 16 air strike near Aleppo, Syria, was a valid and legal attack on a meeting of al Qaeda fighters and did not kill dozens of civilians as reported, a finding disputed by Human Rights Watch.
An investigation of the attack on a building in Al-Jina village identified only one person who might have been a civilian who was wounded or possibly killed, Army Brigadier General Paul Bontrager, deputy director for operations for U.S. Central Command, told a Pentagon briefing by telephone.
He said the strike, in which aircraft dropped 10 bombs on the building and fired two missiles at targets fleeing the site, was believed to have killed about two dozen men attending an al Qaeda meeting at a madrassa, or religious school, under construction.
"We considered media reports that indicated a large number of civilians were killed, but our investigation did not uncover evidence to support those claims," said Bontrager, adding that investigators were unable to visit the scene or talk to anybody who was on the ground at the time.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor, had said at least 49 people were killed and dozens wounded in an attack that hit a mosque with worshippers.
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U.S. says Syria bombing was legal; rights group disputes findings
A U.S. military investigator said on Wednesday that a March 16 air strike near Aleppo, Syria, was a valid and legal attack on a meeting of al Qaeda fighters and did not kill dozens of civilians as reported, a finding disputed by Human Rights Watch.
An investigation of the attack on a building in Al-Jina village identified only one person who might have been a civilian who was wounded or possibly killed, Army Brigadier General Paul Bontrager, deputy director for operations for U.S. Central Command, told a Pentagon briefing by telephone.
He said the strike, in which aircraft dropped 10 bombs on the building and fired two missiles at targets fleeing the site, was believed to have killed about two dozen men attending an al Qaeda meeting at a madrassa, or religious school, under construction.
"We considered media reports that indicated a large number of civilians were killed, but our investigation did not uncover evidence to support those claims," said Bontrager, adding that investigators were unable to visit the scene or talk to anybody who was on the ground at the time.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor, had said at least 49 people were killed and dozens wounded in an attack that hit a mosque with worshippers.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-usa-investigation-idUSKBN18Y2DD
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