UN Adviser Urges US-Led Coalition to Avoid Civilian Deaths in Syria's Raqqa

Adviser to the UN special envoy for Syria on humanitarian issues Jan Egeland called on Thursday on the US-led coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF] fighters to let civilians leave the part of Raqqa occupied by the Daesh militant group (banned in Russia) and to avoid civilian casualties "of which there have been many."

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Egeland said that up to 25,000 civilians remain in the part of Raqqa city held by Daesh. Many of them are seemingly used by the terrorists as human shields.

"There are constant air raids by the coalition … We are therefore urging the coalition, the SDF whom we can deal with to allow as [many] as they can people to escape and come out, and to avoid civilian casualties of which there have been many," Egeland told a briefing.

The coalition strikes in Syria, which were not authorized by the government of President Bashar Assad or the UN Security Council, have stirred up controversy as they led to the deaths of civilians and were conducted with the use of phosphorous bombs.

The most recent case of the civilian deaths in Raqqa took place in early August. The US-led coalition carried out airstrikes in Raqqa, reportedly leaving a woman and 7 children dead.

In its own assessment, the US-led coalition identified 21 unintentional civilian casualties in strikes conducted against Daesh terrorists. The total number of civilians killed in the raids has reached 624 since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve.

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