A local military council allied to the SDF, which has captured part of Manbij after weeks of fighting, gave Islamic State fighters a 48-hour deadline on Thursday to leave the city.
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The observatory said at least 104 civilians have died from air strikes since the start of the Manbij offensive in late May.
Rights watchdog Amnesty International said in a statement that the US-led coalition must do more to prevent civilian deaths.
Smoke and flame rise after what fighters of the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) said were U.S.-led air strikes on the mills of Manbij where Islamic State militants are positioned, in Aleppo Governorate, Syria.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the coalition would investigate reports that dozens of innocent civilians mistaken for jihadist fighters were killed.
Coalition president Anas al-Abdah said the alliance was responsible for the “crimes” in Manbij, which he said killed at least 125 civilians.
Dozens more civilians were injured in the strikes, including some who were in serious condition, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
This wouldn’t be the first time a US airstrike killed civilians in Syria. One photograph shows a man carrying the lifeless body of a child covered with dust while another shows a child, partly covered by a blanket, lying in a grave.
Syria’s foreign ministry has said Tuesday’s attack, which hit the village of Toukhan north of Manbij, was carried out by French forces.
“Anyone responsible for violations of global humanitarian law must be brought to justice and victims and their families should receive full reparation”, Amnesty’s interim Middle East director Magdalena Mughrabi said, Reuters reports. The US-led anti-ISIS coalition on Thursday allegedly issued an ultimatum to jihadists in Manbij (their stronghold in northern Syria between Raqqa and Aleppo), who under siege by Arab-Kurdish troops supported by the coalition.
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“If the information supporting the allegation is determined to be credible, we will then determine the next appropriate step”, USA military officials noted, adding that they take “all measures during the targeting process to avoid or minimize civilian casualties”. In neighboring Iraq, meanwhile, IS has been beaten back on several fronts, with Iraqi forces, aided by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, having retaken the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah in western Anbar province.
