WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States has not found evidence to suggest that reports of mass casualties following the March 16 strike near Syria's city of Aleppo were credible, US Central Command (CENTCOM) Deputy Director for Operations Army Brig. Gen. Paul Bontrager said in a briefing on Wednesday.
"We considered media reports that indicated a large number of civilians were killed, but our investigation did not uncover evidence to support those claims," Bontrager told reporters. "We are not aware of large number of civilians being treated in hospitals after the strike."
Bontrager said the investigation into the strike established that the structure hit had a religious purpose, but noted that the military was unaware that the building next to it was a mosque since it was not included in the no-target list. He added that there was only one civilian casualty in the strike.
"We believe the individual was male, and though the evidence is not conclusive, he was not a fighter," Bontrager said. "We are unsure if that person survived, but we do believe that he was injured in the strike at a minimum."
Human Rights Watch has stated it did not find evidence to support the allegation that members of al-Qaeda or any other armed group were meeting in the mosque at the moment of the attack.
"We are confident this was a meeting of al-Qaeda members and leaders. This was not a meeting of civilians," Bontrager said. "We struck our intended target and eliminated several al-Qaeda terrorists."
During the investigation, the US military conducted multiple interviews with people involved in intelligence assessment and conducting the strike, but did not talk to anyone on the ground in Syria, Bontrager noted.
The CENTCOM deputy director said it was not uncommon for the investigators not to have access to the scene, but assured that the probe was comprehensive and included assessment of all available videos and documents.
