US-led strikes killed 84 civilians in Syria – HRW

Two US-led coalition air strikes on towns held by so-called Islamic State in Syria in March killed at least 84 civilians, Human Rights Watch says. An investigation found that dozens of children were among those who died when a school in Mansoura and a market in Tabqa – both west of Raqqa – were hit. […]

Two US-led coalition air strikes on towns held by so-called Islamic State in Syria in March killed at least 84 civilians, Human Rights Watch says.

An investigation found that dozens of children were among those who died when a school in Mansoura and a market in Tabqa – both west of Raqqa – were hit.

Witnesses were cited as saying that IS militants were present at both sites, along with large numbers of civilians.

The coalition does not believe any civilians died in the Mansoura strike.

It insists that its forces comply with the international law of armed conflict and take all reasonable precautions to reduce the risk of harm to civilians.

At the start of September, the coalition said its strikes in Syria and neighbouring Iraq had unintentionally killed at least 685 civilians since August 2014.

However, an organisation that tracks allegations of civilian deaths, Airwars, says at least 5,343 civilians are likely to have died over the same period.