USA -backed Syrian fighters on Thursday gave Islamic State militants 48 hours to leave an encircled town near the Turkish border without a fight, in a last bid effort to protect civilian lives, according to a statement issued by the group.
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The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes appeared to have been carried out in error – the innocents mistaken for ISIS militants.
According to CBS News, Kurdish fighters with the Syria Democrat Forces, backed by the USA and coalition air strikes, have been attempting to retake Manbij and the surrounding villages from ISIS.
If Manbij is captured by the USA -backed fighters, it will be the biggest strategic defeat for Islamic State in Syria since 2015, when the group lost the border town of Tal Abyad.
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Officially, the USA has admitted to only a handful of civilians killed in the entire ISIS war, though rights groups have put the toll at several hundred, a figure that is only rising as the United States does away with restrictions on targeting.
The air strikes in the area are aimed at supporting a ground operation by the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish and Arab alliance which is trying to drive Isis out of Manbij.
“But we took this decision now after ISIL 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.
Entire families, including children, were reportedly killed by US warplanes and armed drones as they fled fighting in the Manbij area of Aleppo province.
Only after the strike did the USA -led coalition receive reports from sources indicating there may have been civilians in the area.
The video begins with an aerial shot of a series of ISIS compounds near Manbij, Syria, on July 5.
A day later, it said 56 more were killed in an area to the north of the city, including 11 children.
Amnesty International said that since June, more than 100 civilians are believed to have been killed in suspected attacks by the US-led coalition in the Manbij area.
The Pentagon has said it’s investigating the reports.
Spokesman for the us military program charged with fighting ISIS, Colonel Chris Garver, confirmed that airstrikes were conducted on Monday near Manbij and that the was aware of the allegations and reviewing information.
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According to The Daily Mail, airstrikes took out five terrorist targets at once, plus one moving vehicle near Manbij, Syria.
