US to Investigate Allegations Airstrike in Syria Killed 52 Civilians

The US government has said it will investigate claims that a coalition airstrike in Syria killed 52 civilians.

The Guardian reports that the attack took place in a small village in the Syrian province of Aleppo that is on the banks of the Euphrates River. At least seven children were also said to have been killed in the strike. The victims are said to have come from at least six different families.

The allegations against the coalition were made by a group called the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. If the allegations are true, it would be the most deadly accidental airstrike in Iraq and Syria since the United States and its allies launched an air campaign against the Islamic State in 2014.

The US military says that it does not have information that would have led it to believe that civilians were accidentally killed in the attack, but that the military would begin to investigate the matter.

The Observatory says that coalition strikes have killed 66 civilians and 2,000 ISIS fighters since the operation began.

Vice News reports that the Observatory has also claimed that the airstrike did not kill a single ISIS fighter.

The airstrike campaign's initial goal was to help the battered Iraqi Army regain control of territory it has lost to ISIS, while also creating breathing room in Syria for more moderate rebel groups to press campaign against the Syrian government.

Neither goal seems to have been realized, as the Iraqi forces have struggled to regain territory under ISIS control.

Rebels in Syria have been making gains against Syrian government forces in recent weeks, but those gains have been attributed to the governments of Turkey and Saudi Arabia putting aside their differences regarding the Syrian conflict. This has fostered increased cooperation between the various rebel groups each country sponsors on the Syrian battlefield.