An American-led airstrike in the Syrian city of Tabqah on Tuesday led to 18 casualties, the New York Times reports, all of them Syrian fighters allied with the United States. It’s the third time in one month an airstrike led by the U.S. led to the deaths of allies or civilians.
A statement released Thursday by U.S. Central Command, which referred to the strike as “misdirected,” said that allies in the region requested the strike after identifying the target location as “an ISIS fighting position.”
Allies in the Syrian Defense Force have “expressed a strong desire to remain focused on the fight against ISIS despite this tragic incident,” the statement added.
The U.S. has a rocky history with the precision of its airstrikes. A 2015 report found that roughly 500 “non-combatants” had been killed in 52 airstrikes targeting the Islamic State.
