A Russian woman and child have been killed in U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria while at least a dozen more are trapped in the war-torn country, a Chechen human rights council member has said.
Citing “civil sources,” Syrian state media reported that 11 civilians were killed in U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on an Islamic State-held village in eastern Syria on Thursday.
A 35-year-old Chechen woman and a four-year-old Dagestani boy were killed in the attack, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited Chechnya’s human rights council member Kheda Saratova as saying Friday.
"I urge everyone who is able to influence this situation to help stop the killing of innocent children," Saratova told the outlet.
Saratova said that the first victim, identified as Khava Akhyadova, left behind five children aged between 1.5 months and 12 years old who were briefly sheltered by a Kurdish family.
Saratova said 15 women had appealed for help to return their daughters and grandchildren from the shelled Syrian region.
“These women essentially fell hostage to terrorists,” RIA Novosti quoted her as saying. “Now they’re surrounded, killed by bombs and are pleading their relatives for help.”
On Sunday, thirty-six Russian children were resettled from Syria and Iraq aboard a Baghdad-Moscow charter flight. Russia’s children’s rights ombdusperson later said 36 more children of jailed or killed Islamic State members are planned to be repatriated this month.
Islamic State is a terrorist organization banned in Russia.
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