Assad”s government accuses US of massacre

Syria has accused the US of carrying out a “brutal massacre” with a bombing attack in Deir al-Zour province. The overnight air strikes killed an estimated 100 pro-government fighters near the Euphrates river, according to the US. The Syrian foreign ministry said it had written to the United Nations, demanding international condemnation. The US claimed […]

Syria has accused the US of carrying out a “brutal massacre” with a bombing attack in Deir al-Zour province.

The overnight air strikes killed an estimated 100 pro-government fighters near the Euphrates river, according to the US.

The Syrian foreign ministry said it had written to the United Nations, demanding international condemnation.

The US claimed a right to self-defence, saying it was responding to an attack on allied Kurdish and Arab fighters.

Syria described the latest strikes as “a war crime and a crime against humanity”, and said the US was directly supporting terrorism.

Elsewhere in Syria on Thursday, government warplanes bombed towns in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region, near the capital, Damascus, for a fourth day.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said at least 36 civilians were killed, bringing the death toll to 185 since Monday.