World

Syria: Mother, Six Children Killed in US-Led Airstrike on Ferry across Euphrates River

TEHRAN (FNA)- A woman and her six children were killed after their boat moving across the Euphrates River came under the US-led coalition air raid in Western Raqqa, media sources said.

The Arabic desk of RT reported that residents of Sho'ayb al-Zekr village West of al-Tabaqa city found bodies of the seven-member family whose boat was targeted and sunk in the Euphrates River as it was moving towards regions controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Other sources added that the mother and her six children were killed after their boat sank near Debsi Faraj village West of al-Tabaqa.

Meantime, media activists also reported that another boat carrying over 40 people, mostly women and children, that had left ISIL-held regions near Debsi Faraj for SDF-controlled region was also targeted and sank.

There is yet no report on the fate of those ferrying across the river on the boat.

Relevant reports said that the US-led coalition fighter jets targeted the positions of SDF in Northern Raqqa as well as residential areas in a village in Southern Raqqa, killing at least 13 civilians and wounding tens of others.

The coalition warplanes launched massive airstrikes on the village of Hanideh in Southwestern Raqqa, killing 13 civilians and injuring tens of others.

In the meantime, the fighter jets targeted SDF's positions in Northern Raqqa.

The US calls itself an ally of SDF, while it is an old ally of Turkey within the NATO as well. Turkey is at war with the Kurdish units of SDF in a number of regions. The US has not commented on the strikes yet.

Local officials confirmed on Friday that several civilians were killed and several more were wounded in the US raid on a Syrian airfield in Homs province.

Governor of Homs province Talal Barazi told reporters that the US strike on a Syrian airfield led to civilian casualties in a village near the base, as well as the airbase itself, adding at least five people were killed and seven wounded.

Two civilians and three military personnel were killed in the strike, AP reported, citing the governor.

The American missile attack on Syria won’t topple its government or change the policies of Damascus, he said after a barrage of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles targeted a Syrian airfield.

“The Syrian leadership and Syrian policy will not change,” Barazi said in a phone interview with Syrian state television. “This targeting was not the first and I don't believe it will be the last.”

He added that Shayrat airbase would be rebuilt and would continue to play a role in fighting terrorists.

Earlier, Barazi told Reuters that firefighting and rescue operations were under way at the Shayrat airfield after the US attack, but he believed that there were not many casualties on the ground.

Barazi said Washington’s escalation of the conflict in Syria only served terrorist groups such as ISIL.

The governor said that the base played a significant role in the recent capture of the city of Palmyra from ISIL.

The Syrian state TV called the attack “American aggression”.

On Friday, US warships in the Eastern Mediterranean fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at the Syrian airfield, with Pentagon claiming that it was used in a chemical weapons attack against a rebel-held town in Idlib province on Tuesday.

The retaliation came before the UN or the OPCW, the chemical weapons watchdog, could investigate the incident. Washington sided with the rebel-linked activists, which accused Damascus of killing civilians with toxic gas.

The Russian Foreign Ministry reminded US on Thursday that all chemical weapons were taken out of Syria in mid-2014 with Washington's assistance.

The ministry said that Russia considers US Vice President Mike Pence's statements claiming that Moscow and Damascus allegedly did not fulfill obligations to destroy Syrian nuclear arsenal to be groundless, Sputnik reported.

Pence had no grounds to say that the 2013 deal on the Syrian chemical weapons' destruction failed.

The ministry said that Russia-US cooperation on the issue was overall and quite successful.

Moscow said that it was premature to accuse the Syrian government of using chemical weapons in Idlib, adding that Russia insists on conducting a full-fledged probe into the issue.

In 2013, the Syrian authorities agreed to transfer its stockpiled chemical weapons to international control for their subsequent destruction, so as to prevent them from falling into the hands of militants operating in the country.

Syrian opposition claimed Tuesday forces loyal to President Bashar Assad had used a chemical gas on people in the Northwestern province, killing nearly 80 and injuring 200. Assad argued his government had no chemical weapons after agreeing to have them destroyed in 2013. He also ruled out having used chemicals against own people.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier in the day that the US-UK-France-backed draft resolution on the chemical weapons in Syria was based on fake reports mostly from the White Helmets and the SOHR "which cannot be called reliable."

The Russian Defense Ministry said early Wednesday the airstrike near Khan Sheikhoun was carried out by Syrian aircraft, which struck a terrorist warehouse that stored chemical weapons slated for delivery to Iraq.