A US airstrike targeted a group of fleeing civilians outside of the village of Baghouz in eastern Syria on Friday. The attack killed at least 23 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.



The majority of those slain were civilians, though there are reports that some of the fleeing people were ISIS members. Activists said they believe the majority had been displaced from nearby areas, and were fleeing again.



This comes amid the latest offensive by US-backed Kurdish forces against the three ISIS towns in eastern Syria, and the adjoining villages. These areas have been repeatedly attacked, lost and regained, and every time it leads to a number of displaced civilians.



US airstrikes against this area, always presented as support for the Kurdish offensive, has tended to inflict a number of civilian casualties disproportionate for the relatively small population of the area, and the precision which the US claims to have in its bombings.





Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz