The US-led coalition “bombing the ISIL group” in Syria and Iraq said Thursday that 54 civilians had been “inadvertently killed” in seven air strikes between March and October.

The announcement brings the official coalition tally of civilians killed to 173 since the “anti-ISIL” campaign began in the fall of 2014 — though critics say the real figure is far higher.

“Although the coalition makes extraordinary efforts to strike military targets in a manner that minimizes the risk of civilian casualties, in some cases casualties are unavoidable,” the coalition said in a statement.

Although the coalition has announced that it targets ISIL terrorists, analysts consider that its role reinforced the militant group in several areas and wonder how the takfiris managed to widen their deployment in several cities despite the aerial control of the US-led forces.

Source: AFP