Syria condemns US airstrikes in Hasakah

Damascus, Jan 23 (IANS) The Syrian Foreign Ministry has accused the US forces and its allied Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of committing acts that left civilians killed in Syria's northeastern province of Raqqa, according to the state news agency SANA.In a statement following the chaos in Hasakah that resulted from the escape attempt of Islamic State (IS) militants from a Kurdish-controlled prison and the US airstrikes that ensued, the Syrian Ministry said the US Air Force has committed "barbaric" acts, leaving innocent civilians, including women and children, killed.The Ministry said the chaos and the clashes between the IS militants and the SDF amid the airstrikes of the US forces had forced thousands of civilians to flee their homes in Kurdish-controlled areas to government-controlled ones in Hasakah, Xinhua news agency reported.The fleeing civilians received proper treatment upon reaching the government-controlled areas, it noted.The Ministry also repeated its demand for the withdrawal of the US forces from Syria, particularly triggered by the targeting of civilians in the process of hunting down the fleeing IS militants.On Thursday, the IS attacked a Kurdish-run prison in Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah in an attempt to free IS inmates. Around 80 inmates managed to escape, positioning in nearby buildings, an incident that triggered clashes and airstrikes by the US forces.Hasakah province is largely controlled by the US-backed SDF, with certain areas, particularly in the city of Qamishli, still under the control of the Syrian government. --IANs
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