Nations bombing IS failing to protect civilians: UN

GENEVA: The UN on Friday urged all nations bombing Jihadist targets in Syria to better distinguish between civilian and military targets, following reports that US-led coalition strikes killed dozens of non-combatants.

Air raids on Islamic State group targets in Syria have left hundreds of civilians dead since 2014.

The latest strikes that hit a series of residential buildings on Thursday in Mayadeen, a town in Syria’s eastern province of Deir Ezzor, killed at least 35 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said "all states" whose air forces are active in the anti-IS missions needed "to take much greater care to distinguish between legitimate military targets and civilians."

Zeid’s spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva that identifying the air force responsible for civilian deaths is often difficult given the number of countries in the anti-IS coalition and the lack of credible information. The Pentagon released findings on Thursday of an investigation that concluded at least 105 civilians died in an anti-Jihadist air strike on an IS weapons cache in Mosul in March.