The death toll of civilians caused by US airstrikes in Raqqah in the past week has passed 170 and the United Nations has expressed “deep concerns” over it.
Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN secretary general, added “In recent days and weeks scores of civilians have reportedly been killed and injured in Raqqah due to airstrikes and shelling and up to 25 thousand people remain trapped in the city,”
At least 78 people alone were killed on Tuesday, US-led jets targeted al-Sakhani and al-Badou alleyways as well as al-Tausiyah neighborhood in the city, located about 455 kilometers (283 miles) northeast of the capital Damascus.
According to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a large number of those killed were women and children, and that the toll was the highest since operations to liberate Raqqah began.
“The UN condemns any attack that is directed against civilians or civilian infrastructure. We urge all parties fighting in Raqqah and across Syria to take every possible measure to spare and protect civilians and civilian infrastructure as in line with obligations under international humanitarian law,” stressed Dujarric.
