US-Led Coalition Strikes Kill 12 Civilians in East Syria – Reports

BEIRUT (Sputnik) - Air strikes conducted by the US-led coalition against an eastern Syrian city have killed a dozen of civilians, state media reported late on Wednesday.

The air raid on the small city of Hajin in the Deir ez Zor province led to 12 casualties, according to the SANA news agency. The city is located on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, controlled by US-backed militants.

Earlier, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported that the US-led coalition, which is acting in Syria without UN approval or coordination with the Syrian government, conducted airstrikes in al-Bahra village in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, which resulted in the killing of 16 civilians.

On December 14, the Syrian Foreign Ministry sent a letter to the UN Security Council and to the UN Secretary-General, accusing the coalition forces of killing civilians in the province of Deir Ez-Zor, after the coalition's actions on the ground.

Syrian permanent representative to the United Nations Bashar Jaafari told the UN Security Council earlier, that the coalition had intentionally destroyed 90 percent of Syria’s town of Raqqa.