U.S. Military Investigating Reports of Civilian Deaths in Syria Airstrike

U.S. Military Investigating Reports of Civilian Deaths in Syria Airstrike
By HELENE COOPERMARCH 21, 2017
WASHINGTON — The United States military has begun formally investigating an American airstrike in Syria
that officials said targeted dozens of Qaeda operatives at a meeting place that activists and local residents maintain was part of a religious complex where 49 civilians were killed.
United States Central Command has begun two investigations: one to determine whether there is credible evidence
that civilians were killed in the strike, and another, broader inquiry into the overall operation and whether the building hit was indeed part of a complex belonging to the Omar ibn al-Khatab mosque.
Residents have described the building as an assembly hall and dining area for worshipers who gathered for religious lessons, and have produced photographs taken at the site after the strike
that show a black sign outside a still-standing adjoining structure that identifies it as part of the Omar ibn al-Khatab mosque.
The broader investigation, he said — called a 15-6 in military parlance — will seek to clarify the purpose of the building
that was bombed, as well as whether it was used by people other than members of Al Qaeda.
Defense officials had acknowledged that the building hit in the March 16 airstrike was near a mosque,
but they called it an "Al Qaeda meeting site" in Al Jinah, in Aleppo Province.
Military officials said intelligence had indicated
that Al Qaeda used the partially constructed community meeting hall as a gathering site and as a place to educate and indoctrinate fighters.