TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The month-long United States (US)-led airstrikes in Syria have claimed the lives of 521 fighters from Islamic State (IS) and its affiliated groups, as well as 32 civilians the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told the press on Thursday, October 23, 2014.
The London-based human rights observer group said that 464 casualties belong to the hardline Islamic group, while the rest are members of Al-Qaeda and its affiliates, which control large swathes of Syria and parts of Iraq.
"The airstrikes have killed 57 members of al-Qaeda, which is affiliated with al-Nusra front, while six civilians—mostly women and children—were also killed in the strikes," said the Observatory in a statement.
The Observatory explained that the US-led airstrikes in Iraq began in July 2014, while the Syrian strikes began in September 2014 with the aid of its allies in the Middle East. Other Western nations that had engaged in airstrikes include France and the United Kingdom (UK).
The US claimed that the Syrian airstrikes were done in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations (UN) Charter, which grants an individual and/or a collective action of self-defense against armed attacks.
The spokesperson for the US Central Command, Col. Patrick Ryder, said on Saturday, October 18, 2014 that Washington had been briefed about the collateral damages and promised to investigate all claims.
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