Washington-Led Coalition Acknowledges Using White Phosphorus in Syria’s Raqqa

WASHINGTON, (ST)- The US-led coalition has acknowledged using the internationally banned White Phosphorus bombs in its strikes in Syria’s Raqqa.

The coalition claimed in a statement on Saturday, reported by the Russian Ria Novosti news agency, that it used white phosphorus rounds in Raqqa “to screen, obscure and mark targets in Raqqa during  the operations”.

It also claimed that it was carrying out what it called “cautious measures to minimize the danger that might be caused by the use of white phosphorus to civilians and civil structures”.

 The coalition’s claim is a failed attempt to cover its crimes in Syria, according to SANA.

Several international agreements have banned the use of white phosphorus as a weapon.

The US-led coalition has carried out 25 raids on residential neighborhoods in the Syrian city of Raqqa over the past 24 hours and in several of which it used the internationally white phosphorus rounds, according to social media activists. The airstrikes led to the martyrdom of 17 people including 12 in a raid on an internet Café in al-Jazara area near the Euphrates.

Since its illegal establishment in 2014 out of the Security Council , the coalition’s warplanes have committed several massacres that claimed the lives of hundreds of Syrians in several areas particularly in Der Ezzour, Aleppo and Raqqa.

Hamda Mustafa