Coalition air strike mistakenly killed 18 U.S.-backed fighters in Syria - Pentagon

An air strike on Tuesday by a U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State mistakenly killed 18 members of the Syrian Democratic Forces south of the city of Tabqa, Syria, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

"The strike was requested by the partnered forces, who had identified the target location as an ISIS fighting position," it said in a statement, referring to the Islamic State militant group by an acronym.

"The target location was actually a forward Syrian Democratic Forces fighting position."