Major General John Brennan, the commander of the US-led coalition forces in Northern Syria released a statement on Friday condemning a drone attack that left four children dead and 11 others wounded.
The statement was made public after The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) said on Friday that Turkish forces were responsible for the drone attack that hit a UN-sponsored educational centre in Hasakah.
“On the evening of Aug. 18, an armed unmanned aerial system struck a group of teenaged girls playing volleyball who were active in a United Nations educational outreach program in Hasakah,” Brennan said in his statement without mentioning Turkey.
“We [CJTF-OIR] extend our condolences to the families of those killed and sympathies to those injured,” said the head of the coalition forces established for the struggle against the Islamic State (ISIS).
Brennan underlined that such acts violated the laws of armed conflict, which require the protection of civilians.
“The increase in military hostilities in northern Syria is creating chaos in a fragile region where the threat of ISIS remains present. We call for immediate de-escalation from all parties and an end to activities that put at risk the significant battlefield gains the Coalition has made against ISIS,” the commander said.
Turkey has recently increased its attacks against Kurdish forces in Syria, and it threatens to carry out new incursions to northern Syria.
Kurdish militia form the backbone of US-led coalition forces in Syria. Ankara sees Kurdish armed groups in Syria as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and regard the emergence of a Kurdish autonomous administration in the region as a threat to its national security.
