The Guardian: US-Led “Anti-ISIS” Campaign in Syria’s Raqqa ‘Failing to Avoid Civilian Deaths’

LONDON- Hundreds of residents in the Syrian city of Raqqa were killed by US-led Coalition’s airstrikes allegedly  on ISIS stronghold amid changes in targeting policy under Trump.

The Guardian newspaper reported on Friday that concerns are mounting over the civilian cost of the US-led coalition’s campaign to reclaim what it called “Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa”, with reports of airstrikes killing and wounding hundreds of Syrians.

 The reports raise questions about the US commitment to protect civilians in the battle amid the reported loosening of the rules of engagement under President Donald Trump, according to the newspaper.

“The coalition is not taking any precautions to avoid civilian casualties,” said Aghid al-Khodr, a senior editor at Sound and Picture, an organisation that maintains a network of clandestine correspondents in the Raqqa.

If the coalition is going to destroy a residential building and wipe out all the people in it every time it wants to kill a Daesh terrorist then it will be liberating the city from both Daesh and the residents, he said.