The Pentagon on Friday released an aerial photograph of the aftermath of an airstrike in Syria, to counter social media reports claiming U.S. and coalition forces targeted a mosque and killed many civilians who were attending evening prayers Thursday night.
“We are not aware of any confirmed civilian casualties,” said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.
The photograph shows one-half of a building reduced to rubble, and a separate building identified as a mosque about 100 feet away, intact and apparently unscathed.
The Pentagon says the strike was carried out based on credible intelligence that the building was being used by al Qaeda, and that a large meeting was underway, that may have included some senior al Qaeda leaders.
“This hit its intended target. This was a meeting of senior al Qaeda leadership in western Syria,” Davis said. “We had tracked this building for some time we know it was being used by al Qaeda.”
The Pentagon says it is still doing an assessment of the strike, and hopes to be able to provide names of some of the al Qaeda leaders killed.
The strike was conducted by a combination of manned and unmanned aircraft.
Social media reports showed a fragment of a U.S. a Hellfire missile typically fired by U.S. drones that was recovered at the scene.
“I wouldn’t argue with that,” Davis said.
