U.S.-led coalition forces carried out a series of aistrikes on Sunday and Monday in the eastern Syrian town of al-Mayadeen, the coalition confirmed Tuesday. While the strikes were directed at ISIS facilities, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights—a U.K.-based watchdog that has long monitored the conflict in the region—claimed that at least 57 civilians were killed in Monday’s attack. The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said it would assess the allegations and release its own findings in its monthly civilian casualty report.
According to Joe Scrocca, the coalition’s director of public affairs, the strikes on June 25 and 26 targeted “known ISIS command and control facilities and other ISIS infrastructure” in al-Mayadeen. ISIS is widely suspected of having moved its leadership and key operational facilities to al-Mayadeen from its de-facto capital in Raqqa. “The removal of these facilities [in al-Mayadeen] disrupts ISIS’s ability to facilitate and provoke terrorist attacks against the coalition, our partner forces, and in our homelands,” Scrocca told Reuters, adding: “This mission was meticulously planned and executed to reduce the risk of collateral damage and potential harm to non-combatants.”