The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Tuesday said that children were among at least 56 civilians killed in strikes by the coalition as they fled Al-Tukhar in Aleppo province, near the key IS stronghold of Manbij.
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In the meantime, a political commentator, Marwa Osman, told RT that the coalition apparently had been aware that its planes had been hitting an area inhabited by civilians, adding that 30 airstrikes could not be just a mistake.
In a statement distributed Thursday, UNICEF said dozens of children were among those killed in airstrikes in and around Manbij in the past few days. But with ISIL surrounded on all sides and rising fears over the fate of tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the town, the US-backed fighters appear prepared for compromise.
The deadline follows a major backlash after reports that at least 56 civilians, including children, were killed in air strikes by the coalition near Manbij on Tuesday.
Al-Abdah also warned that the killing of civilians by U.S.-led airstrike campaigns could “prove to be a recruitment tool for terrorist organizations”.
The strikes, officials said, “destroyed nine ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL command and control node, and 12 ISIL vehicles”.
Earlier in the day, the monitor had reported additional US-led air strikes and it said the SDF had advanced inside the town overnight. Adrian J.T. Rankine-Galloway in an emailed statement. As with any allegation we receive, we will review any information we have about the incident, including information provided by third parties, such as the proximity of the location to [coalition] airstrikes, and any other relevant information presented.
“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”, said interim Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program Magdalena Mughrabi on the Amnesty International website.
Syria’s government condemned the airstrikes in letters of complaint issued by its Foreign Ministry to the U.N. and the U.N. Security Council, saying, “Whoever wishes to fight terrorism in a serious matter should coordinate with the government of [Syria] and its army”.
According to Woods, this attack may presage more civilian casualties as forces continue to overtake ISIS territories, such as Mosul, Iraq’s largest city now occupied by ISIS. And on a visit to Iraq last week, the secretary met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Defense Minister Khaled al-Obaidi, offering to share with the Iraqi forces hard-earned US expertise in countering improvised explosive devices. “There’s something very, very bad happening out there at the moment”.
The fighting around Manbij coincides with an uptick in fighting in the contested city of Aleppo, where government forces have encircled the eastern, rebel-held parts of the city, trapping hundreds of thousands of people inside. “Manbij is full of residents, a quarter of a million residents, used by ISIL as human shields”.
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“The closure of the borders means that the most vulnerable victims of the conflict – those badly injured by the war – no longer have the chance to survive”, said Luis Eguiluz, group’s head of mission in Jordan.
