A U.S- led coalition in Syria has killed more than 100 civilians since June and wounded dozens more in airstrikes in and around the ISIS-controlled city of Manbij, according to several human rights groups. The villages are near the IS stronghold of Manbij, a town that members of the predominantly Kurdish U.S. -backed Syria Democratic Forces have been trying to capture in a weeks-long offensive.
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There are reports of dozens of civilian deaths as a result of a coalition-U.S. There must be a prompt, independent and transparent investigation to determine what happened, who was responsible, and how to avoid further needless loss of civilian life.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Wednesday the U.S. -led force would look into the reports of civilian casualties around Manbij.
The agency said as many as 20 children may have been killed in the strikes.
French officials on Thursday discounted the credibility of claims by the Syrian government regarding the responsibility for civilian casualties during Coalition raids against the Syrian town of Manbij earlier this week.
“But we took this decision now after ISIS used residents as human shields, after the media pressure on us, and to protect whatever civilians are left in the town”, the commander said on condition of anonymity. The United States have said they will investigate the allegations but will not suspend airstrikes on the city.
Overall, the USA military has confirmed 36 civilian deaths from its airstrikes since summer 2015, a figure independent observers consider too low to be credible, considering the daily barrage of air-delivered U.S. ordnance for almost two years.
An estimated 70,000 civilians are trapped in Manbij, which is under the control of Islamic State.
More than 1,400 innocent Syrians have been killed in airstrikes the fight against ISIS, according to worldwide air strikes monitor Air Wars. Local activists claim the airstrikes killed over 125 civilians.
Activists are claiming the US -led anti-ISIS coalition killed as many as 160 Syrian civilians after mistaking them for ISIS fighters.
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The British NGO Syrian Observatory for Human Rights declared that the air strikes were conducted in error, faulting USA intelligence for mistaking civilians for religious militants. Their director Chris Wood said: “This is likely the worst reported civilian toll of any coalition attack since the bombing campaign against Isis began almost two years ago”.
