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The United States on Wednesday said that it was “horrified” by Syrian regime airstrikes in Raqa that caused the death of at least 95 people, slamming the regime for its “continued slaughter”. The bombing on Tuesday was the most lethal attack conducted by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s air force since extremist group Islamic State (IS) captured the city last year and made it their stronghold. It is not clear on how may IS extremists were killed in the strikes, but according to human rights monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, over half of the people killed were civilians.
The US State Department denounced the strikes, saying that the regime did not value human life.
“We are horrified by the reports that the Assad regime’s airstrikes yesterday in Raqa, Syria killed dozens of civilians and demolished residential areas. The Assad regime’s continued slaughter of Syrian civilians further exposes its callous disregard for human life”, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.
She added that Assad has lost his right to govern the country and that he should be held accountable for the regime’s actions.
“We’ve been clear that Assad long ago lost all legitimacy to govern and that the Syrian regime must be held responsible for its brutality and atrocities against the Syrian people”.
She also blamed the Syrian regime for its continual human rights abuses and for violating international law, accusing the government of “murder, hostage-taking, enforced disappearances, torture, rape, sexual violence and the indiscriminate use of barrel bombs”.
The US is leading a coalition of over 60 nations that is fighting the IS, whose militants have captured territory in Syria and Iraq. US President Barack Obama rejected an alliance with Assad’s regime against the IS, arguing that the pact would backfire. He also said that there was very little communication with Assad’s forces to inform them when Syrian air space was being used in operations against the IS.
