The US-led Coalition has most likely killed 188 civilians in Iraq and Syria since the start of the operation against the Islamic State (IS), the Combined Joint Task Forces-Operation Inherent Resolve(CJTF-OIR) stated on Monday.

Axar.az reports that, "To date, based on information available, CJTF-OIR has assessed that, it is more likely than not, at least 188 civilians have been unintentionally killed by coalition strikes since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve. CJTF-OIR regrets the unintentional loss of civilian lives resulting from coalition efforts to defeat ISIL [IS] in Iraq and Syria and express our deepest sympathies to the families and others affected by these strikes," a CJTF-OIR statement revealed on Monday said.

The US Department of Defense in November of last year received 16 new reports about civilian casualties resulting from actions of the CJTF-OIR.

"Although the Coalition takes extraordinary efforts to strike military targets in a manner that minimizes the risk of civilian casualties, in some incidents casualties are unavoidable," said the official statement.

Regarding the coalition strike on a van carrying Islamic State militants on December 29 in hospital compound parking lot, which reportedly resulted in civilian deaths, the US Department of Defense said that it is still under investigation.

The US-led coalition has conducted over 10,700 strikes in Iraq and over 6,200 in Syria since the Operation Inherent Resolve started in 2014.