The United States military forces have killed three Syrian civilians and kidnapped several others, it has been reported.
According to several news networks, three Syrian citizens were killed by US forces in the town of al-Busayrah, in the northeastern Deir ez-Zor Governorate.
“A large airborne operation” in the town, one involving at least one US helicopter, saw US forces collaborate with local groups.
A number of al-Busayrah residents were also “kidnapped” by US forces, reports suggest.
In 2017, for the first time, the US deliberately attacked Assad regime forces with the bombing of the Shayrat Airbase.
However, the Trump administration withdrew the majority of the US troops stationed in Syria – estimated to be between 2,000 to 2,500 at the time – by early 2019.
Nevertheless, an estimated 500 troops remained in the country, a force which is believed to have grown since.
The continuation of US military operations on the ground, particularly in the east of Syria, is widely acknowledged.
A number of operations against IS since then have resulted in the deaths of numerous Syrian civilians. One operation, ‘the Baghuz strike’, on 18 March 2019, killed at least 70 Syrian civilians, and probably more.
A US force is currently deployed at a base south of Deir ez-Zor. Their official mission is to fight IS.
The vast majority of civilian deaths in Syria since the first protests of 2011 are due to the Assad regime. Regime bombing continues in the north-western Idlib province.
Civil war has claimed the lives of approximately 350,000 people since its beginning, according to a conservative estimate.
