BREAKING NEWS

US coalition denies deadly strike in Syria's Deir al-Zor city

By REUTERS

OCTOBER 24, 2017 08:53

BEIRUT, Oct 24 - The US-led coalition on Tuesday denied striking Deir al-Zor city in eastern Syria after Damascus accused its jets of killing more than a dozen people.

Syrian state television had said the US-led coalition hit the government-held Qusur district, killing 14 civilians and wounding 32, on Monday.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was unclear which aircraft carried out the raid, but that it killed at least 22 people.

Colonel Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the US-led coalition against Islamic State, said on Tuesday that its jets had not conducted air strikes on any part of the eastern city. The coalition says it investigates any such allegations and is careful to avoid civilian casualties in its bombing runs in Syria and neighboring Iraq.

The Syrian army controls much of Deir al-Zor city, after pushing into it last month with the help of Russian air strikes and Iran-backed militias. That advance broke an Islamic State siege of an enclave there which had lasted nearly three years.

Syrian troops and allied forces are now fighting Islamic State militants in a few remaining districts of the city, and in nearby parts of Deir al-Zor province.

The US-led coalition has been striking Islamic State targets to back an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias in other parts of the province across the Euphrates river. The United States and Russia have said they communicate with each other to prevent possible points of conflict between the two separate offensives.

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