Over 50 civilians dead as US-led coalition strikes IS in Syria

May 3, 2015

Beirut, May 3: US-led strikes targeting the Islamic State group killed at least 52 civilians in northern Syria, a monitor said Saturday, but the Pentagon said it could not confirm the report.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor also reported 10 civilian deaths in a rocket strike Saturday in the northern city of Aleppo and said 40 others suffered respiratory problems in a pre-dawn chemical attack further north in Idlib province.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that US-led coalition strikes early Friday on the village of Birmahle in Aleppo province killed 52 civilians.

He said “seven children” were among the dead but that the toll could rise as 13 people were still trapped under rubble.

Kurdish militiamen and Syrian rebel fighters were clashing with IS rebels in a town roughly two kilometers (1 mile) away from Birmahle at the time of the strikes.

“Not a single IS fighter” was killed in the strikes on Birmahle, said Abdel Rahman, adding that the village is inhabited by civilians only and that IS has no positions there.

US Central Command spokesman Col. Patrick Ryder told AFP there was “no information to corroborate allegations that coalition air strikes resulted in civilian casualties.”

“Regardless, we take all allegations seriously and will look into them further,” he added.

Air strikes by the international coalition have supported Kurdish militias fighting IS in Aleppo province, most notably in the flashpoint border town of Kobani, which is near Birmahle.

Backed by the strikes, Kurdish fighters drove militants out of Kobani in January.

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Syrian Town erupts after Israeli forces enter Beit Jinn; heavy casualties reported

News Network

November 28,2025

Several Syrians were killed and more than two dozen others injured in Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Damascus, amid intensified incursions by the occupying regime since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rule.

Syrian state TV reported that the casualties occurred during an overnight Israeli assault involving helicopters and drones on the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside. The attack followed an Israeli military unit’s entry into the town, where they were surrounded by local residents, leading to gunfire and direct confrontations.

According to the report, “The occupation army’s helicopters and artillery shelled Beit Jinn, located at the foothills of Mount Hermon, resulting in 13 martyrs and 25 injured civilians.” The broadcaster did not specify the full extent of damage.

Al-Ikhbariyah Syria confirmed that the shelling coincided with Israeli soldiers entering Beit Jinn, while artillery pounded surrounding areas. The broadcaster stated that the escalation began after local residents clashed with an Israeli patrol that had infiltrated the southern town and “kidnapped” three young men.

Following a two-hour exchange of heavy fire, Israeli forces withdrew and repositioned on the hill of Butt al-Warda at the town’s outskirts.

Israeli media acknowledged that six soldiers were wounded in the clashes—three of them seriously—describing the confrontation as a “sudden ambush” that forced the deployment of reserve units and air support to secure an exit route. No further details were provided.

The aggression has fueled renewed displacement from Beit Jinn, with residents fleeing to nearby villages amid increasingly frequent Israeli attacks.

The raid came just a day after Israeli troops carried out another ground incursion into Umm al-Luqas village in Quneitra province. According to SANA, an Israeli unit in four vehicles entered the village, raided several homes, and later withdrew.

Syria condemned the repeated incursions as violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and UN resolutions, urging the international community to enforce compliance and pressure Israel to halt its operations and withdraw fully.

Israel has expanded its attacks across Syrian territory following the collapse of the Assad government last year. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly instructed his forces to push deeper into Syrian territory and seize strategic positions.

Meanwhile, critics say the HTS-led interim government’s inaction and growing normalization gestures toward Israel have emboldened Tel Aviv to intensify its military operations. HTS, formerly linked to al-Qaeda, seized control of Damascus last December, formally ending Assad’s rule.

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