Sources: 50 Civilians Killed in US Airstrike in Deir Ezzur

Local sources in Deir Ezzur said that the US airstrikes have destroyed more bridges and supply routes in the province, adding that 50 civilians were killed in the attacks.

News ID: 424066

Date: 03 October 2016 - 17:51

RNA - "50 civilians, including women and children, were killed in the US-led coalition airstrikes on Deir Ezzur," the sources said on Monday.

Noting that the US airstrikes have pounded 7 bridges in the past four days, they said that the bridges on the Euphrates in al-Mayadeen, al-Bu Kamal, al-Ashara, al-Basira, al-Tarif and al-Nowam in the Eastern and Western countryside of Deir Ezzur were attacked before the airstrike on al-Abbas bridge on Sunday.

Army sources in Syria said on Sunday that the US pounded several strategic bridges in Deir Ezzur in the last few days to prevent the army and its allies' further advances in the fight against the ISIL terrorists.

"The US aimed to extend the geographical area of its influence by bombing the strategic bridges in Deir Ezzur and stop the Syrian army's advance in the war against the ISIL," the source told FNA.

"Washington also sought to cut the supply routes between the provinces and separate Deir Ezzur's countryside from the city of Deir Ezzur through the bombing," the source added.

"Destruction of Deir Ezzur bridges was also aimed at dividing the regions under the US and Russian influence in the Eastern and Western parts of the Euphrates," the source said.

The US-led coalition fighter jets once again conducted air raids over Deir Ezzur province on Friday, destroying two other key bridges over the Euphrates River, just three days after demolishing two other strategic bridges in similar airstrikes in the same region near the border with Iraq.

According to reports, the Coalition’s airstrikes resulted in the destruction of al-Shihan Bridge near al-Salhin neighborhood in al-Bu Kamal countryside and Tarif Bridge in the Western countryside that extends between Deir Ezzur and Raqqa provinces.

The US-led coalition warplanes had also destroyed al-Asharah Bridge that links the two banks of the river in the Eastern part of the Deir Ezzur province on Wednesday, only few hours after demolishing al-Mayadeen Bridge.

The bombers had also targeted the Syrian army troops near the city of Deir Ezzur on September 17, leaving over 90 military personnel dead and a hundred wounded.

Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed a report by the Syrian state news agency that an ISIL offensive began right after Syrian Army positions were hit by the bombers of the US-led coalition.

The actions of the coalition “clearly paved the way for ISIL terrorists to attack the position and take control of it,” the agency said citing the General Command of the Army and Armed Forces.

The General Command called the bombing a “serious and blatant aggression” against Syrian forces, and said it was "conclusive evidence" that the US and its allies support ISIL terrorist group.

A day later, a military source disclosed that the ISIL launched attacks on the Syrian army positions in Deir Ezzur only 7 minutes after the US-led coalition's airstrikes.

The military source reiterated that the air and ground assault were highly coordinated.

A Syrian top official said the country's intelligence unit possesses an audio recording of a conversation between the ISIL group and the US military before the airstrikes by the US-led coalition on the Syrian army troops near Deir Ezzur on September 17.

The speaker of the People's Council of Syria, Hadiya Khalaf Abbas, said that after the US coalition's airstrikes on the government troops, US military directed terrorists' attack on the Syrian army.

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