The coalition against ISIS in Syria condemns Hasakah drone attack that killed four teenage girls

The US-led coalition in Syria condemned a suspected Turkish airstrike that targeted a girls’ center in Hasakah on Thursday and killed four teenage girls and injured 11 others in a statement that called on all sides to deescalate tensions.

The statement said the girls were playing volleyball in the center that worked under a United Nations educational outreach program, when they were hit by a missile launched from an “unmanned aerial system” without mentioning which country was responsible for the attack.

“Such acts are contrary to the laws of armed conflict, which require the protection of civilians. We extend our condolences to the families of those killed and sympathies to those injured,” the statement quoted Maj. Gen. John Brennan, type commander of the coalition forces fighting ISIS in Syria. 

The statement also warned that the increase in military hostilities in northern Syria was creating “chaos in a fragile region where the threat of ISIS remains present” and called for an “immediate de-escalation from all parties and an end to activities that put at risk the significant battlefield gains the Coalition has made against ISIS.”

The UK-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) earlier said he targeted center was located nearly two kilometers away from the International Coalition base on the road between Al-Hasakah and Tel Tamr, SOHR said, adding that the center worked as a part of efforts to rehabilitate girls in the region before returning them back to their families. 

The attack coincided with the visit of a female commander of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) to the center, SOHR said. 

YPJ is one of the components of the US backed SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces), the military wing of the AANES, a de facto authority in Northern Syria. 

Turkey refutes any Kurdish political or military formation in the region claiming they have links to the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), an armed group fighting Turkey for four decades.