Aleppo, air raid on a mosque leaves at least 42 dead
The building was full of worshipers for the evening prayer. It is not clear who is responsible for the attack. The American coalition claims to have targeted jihadists, but not a mosque.
Damascus (AsiaNews / Agencies) - At least 42 people, mostly civilians were killed in an air raid that destroyed a mosque yesterday evening in the village of al-Jineh, 30 kilometers west of Aleppo, in an area controlled by rebels . It is not yet clear who is responsible for the attack
According to the London based NGO Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the al-Jineh mosque was full of worshipers for the evening prayer. The village is located in what is the main area under rebel control.
It is reported that there were jihadist factions inside the mosque. "The raid was conducted by unidentified airplanes, and killed 42 people, mostly civilians - said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Observatory - more than a hundred are wounded." At the time of the declaration there were still many dispersed and trapped under the rubble of the mosque.
Syrian and Russian forces are operative in the area, while the US carries out airstrikes against the rebels jihadists in the region. The United States claim to have conducted an operation in the area against militants of al-Qaeda, but denies having hit a mosque. The Central Command, after stating that the American attack had taken place in the neighboring district of Idlib, recanted saying that the exact location is not known.
United States led coalition, operating in the territory against the jihadists in 2014, admitted that it had unintentionally caused 220 civilian casualties. Critics say the numbers are much higher.
Russia launched a military intervention in Syria in September 2015, and in the past has often dismissed allegations of killing civilians during raids.
Yesterday's attack comes just one day after the suicide attack in Damascus, where at least 31 people were killed, a bloody commemoration of the sixth anniversary of the Syrian civil war. Since the conflict more than 320 thousand people have been killed, and 11 million have been forced to flee.
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