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US coalition actions in Syria's Raqqah broke international law: Amnesty International

Tuesday, 05 June 2018 12:56 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 08 June 2018 2:40 PM ]

A file photo showing the devastation in Syria's Raqqah

US-led coalition attacks against Daesh in Syria's Raqqah last year broke international law by endangering the lives of civilians, says international rights group.

According to Amnesty International on Tuesday, the US did not take sufficient account of civilians or take the precautions measures to minimize casualties while attacking Raqqah in 2017.

Amnesty interviewed 112 civilian residents of Raqqah during field research there in February, while investigating the sites of 42 air, artillery and mortar strikes.

"Witnesses reported that there were no fighters in the vicinity at the time of the attacks. Such attacks could be either direct attacks on civilians or civilian objects or indiscriminate attacks," said Amnesty adding that such attacks amounted to war crimes.

The rights group further went on to call on the coalition to admit the scale of damage, pave the way for a public independent investigation and make reparations to victims of their actions

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The US has been conducting airstrikes against what it says are Daesh targets inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a United Nations mandate.

The US and its allies have repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians and drawn criticism over their failure to destroy Daesh which they claim to be fighting.

Raqqah fell in the hands of US-sponsored Kurdish militants last year after they managed to drive Daesh terrorists out of the city. They have refused to hand back the control of Raqqah to the Syrian government.

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