US-Led Airstrikes Kill 52 Civilians, Including 7 Children, In Syria

U.S.-led forces conducting airstrikes in Syria have killed 52 people, including seven children, in the northern province of Aleppo, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The group added that at least 13 people are missing since Friday's airstrikes.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the U.K.-based SOHR said that the airstrikes were conducted on the village of Birmahle, which had not seen any clashes and did not house any installations belonging to the Islamic State group.

“We in SOHR condemn in the strongest terms this massacre committed by the U.S led coalition under the pretext of targeting the IS in the village, and we call the coalition countries to refer who committed this massacre to the courts, as we renew our calls to neutralize all civilians areas from military operations by all parties,” SOHR said, in a statement on Saturday.

However, Rahman noted, at least seven jihadists were killed by the airstrikes in a nearby town -- only 1 mile away from Birmahle -- that was witness to clashes between Kurdish militia and Syrian rebel fighters, according to the Agence France-Presse (AFP).

SOHR also estimated that the total death toll is expected to increase once more details emerge about the missing people. Before Friday's casualties, air raids have killed 66 civilians so far, AFP reported. The aerial campaign has so far killed over 2,000 people, including 1,922 ISIS fighters, since September.

The coalition raids began last September and have helped Kurdish militias wrest back control of the city of Kobane from ISIS in January. Coalition airstrikes have also targeted ISIS positions in neighboring Iraq.