Beirut, Dec 13, (dpa/GNA) – Three civilians were killed in eastern Syria during a an airborne operation carried out by US forces in the early hours of Monday morning, state media and a monitoring group said.
The Syrian News Agency (SANA) described the operation as “a large-scale air born operation” and said it took place in the town of Al-Busaira in the countryside east of Deir Ezzor.
Citing local sources, SANA said the operation took place with the support of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), US-backed Kurdish-led forces.
The report added that US troops had fired “indiscriminately” on houses, killing three civilians who were all members of one family.
US soldiers also arrested a number of residents and took them to an unknown location, SANA reported.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the civilians who died were a teacher and his two sons. It added that those arrested were suspected of belonging to the Islamic State terrorist militia.
There has been no comment yet by US forces.
The town of Al-Busaira is under the control of the SDF, one of the main allies of the US in Syria.
The Kurds control a large area in the north and east of Syria, where US and SDF forces have been fighting Islamic State militants.
Although the terrorist militia has been defeated militarily in Syria, sleeper cells remain active and still carry out occasional attacks.
GNA