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MIDDLE EAST

Air Raid By ‘Unknown Source’ Kills Civilian in Syria

Syrian airstrikes
(Photo: Syrian Observatory for Human Rights' Twitter account)

After an air raid killed a civilian Tuesday night confusion abounds as to who exactly is responsible.

Official sources in Syria confirmed on Wednesday the killing of a civilian in the village of Rashidia, an outskirt of the southern Qamishly area, which is under the Syrian army control. Who conducted the air-raid remains unclear though fingers have been pointed at the United States, Turkey and Israel.

An unnamed source told Russian-owned RT News that a warplane, believed to be American or Turkish, raided the Rashidia village Tuesday night, claiming the lives of a civilian and destroying a house and vehicle.

Another unnamed official source told the same RT News that warplanes, belonging to the international coalition against terrorism, were apparently chasing one of the leaders of the terrorist Islamist group – the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant, known as ISIL.

Meanwhile, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that an unknown warplane targeted a Syrian army post in the village of Rashidia. The Observatory, however, said that it was not clear whether the attack was carried out by the international coalition against terrorism or by Israel.

While Syrian civilian deaths have not been uncommon during the Syrian war, they are usually attributed to air raids by the Syrian government or rebel opposition groups. The United Nations recently criticized the “international indifference” to civilian deaths in Syria, claiming that over 100 civilians have been killed in the last ten days.

Israeli warplanes have conducted previous air raids into Syria, in particular, in areas adjacent to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. In July, an Israeli air raid targeted posts in Syria of the Lebanese Islamist party, Hezbollah, which backs the Syrian regime of President, Bashar al-Assad.

Since 2011 the Arab Republic of Syria, home to nearly 19 million residents, has endured a civil war, sparked by mass protests demanding social and economic reforms.

Since the onset of the war, hundreds of thousands have been killed or injured, while millions more have been displaced. In recent years Russia has become a key ally for the Syrian regime, intervening in the war and helping Syria defeat armed opposition groups.

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Rami Almeghari

Rami Almeghari is a freelance independent writer, journalist and lecturer, based in the Gaza Strip. Rami has contributed in English to several media outlets worldwide, including print, radio and TV. He can be reached on facebook as Rami Munir Almeghari and on email as [email protected]

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1 Comment

  1. Larry Stout August 1, 2019

    What is the definition of a “regime”? I gather that it is a government said by the U.S. to be “malign”.

    Reply

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