US Denies Carrying Out Bombing Of Mosque Near Aleppo That Killed 58
The US military said it carried out an attack on a building where al-Qaeda militants were meeting in Syria, not on a mosque next door where activists say 46 civilians were killed in a bombing.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the incident occurred in the town of al-Jinah in Aleppo’s western countryside. Al-Jinah is located in one of the main rebel-held parts of Syria.
US Central Command spokesman Col. John J. Thomas said the intended target was destroyed late Thursday but the mosque near the target was not struck.
“We did not target any mosques,” Thomas said. “What we did target was destroyed. There is a mosque within 50 feet of that building that is still standing.”
However, local activists and the SOHR said at least 46 people were killed — adding the death toll could rise as some are in critical condition and others are missing. The SOHR said it does not know to what country the warplanes that bombed the mosque belong.
