U.S. military says air strike against IS in Syria mistakenly kills 18 allied fighters

Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-13 23:43:09|Editor: yan
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WASHINGTON, April 13 (Xinhua) -- An air strike against the Islamic State (IS) group in northern Syria on Tuesday by the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition mistakenly killed 18 members of allied forces there, the Pentagon said Thursday.

"The strike was requested by the partnered forces, who had identified the target location as an ISIS (IS) fighting position," the Pentagon said in a statement. "The target location was actually a forward Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighting position."

Media reports said the strike was intended to target IS militants south of Tabqa. The SDF, with the help of air and ground support from the U.S.-led coalition, has surrounded the IS stronghold.

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