Story highlights US, local reports at odds on numbers and identity of people killed in airstrikeSyrian reports suggest mosque hit, US claim al Qaeda meeting targeted(CNN) The US military has disputed local claims that US airstrikes Thursday killed dozens of Syrian civilians attending prayers at a village mosque, saying instead that the strike targeted and killed al Qaeda militants. The local reports, which come via the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), say that the strike hit a mosque in the village of al-Jena, killing at least 42 people, most of whom were civilians, and injuring dozens of others. The group posted media of what it says shows its rescue operation amid the ruins of the mosque. A US official confirmed that US planes conducted an airstrike in the area, on the border of the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, but claimed that they struck a building where it was believed there was an al Qaeda meeting, killing "several terrorists." The spokesman reported that the strikes destroyed half of the building, which had housed al Qaeda members at the time of the bombing.

Source: CNN March 17, 2017 04:52 UTC