In a statement, the president of the Syrian opposition coalition, Anas Alabdah, said the bloodshed indicates “a major loophole in the current operational rules followed by the global coalition in conducting strikes in populated areas”.
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“The strike was against both buildings and vehicles”, Defense Department spokesman Army Col. Christopher Garver told reporters at the Pentagon about the July 19 strike in the town of Manbij.
At least 11 children were believed to be among the dead.
Syrian authorities accuse the French military of killing more than 120 civilians in air strikes near the Turkish-Syrian border and the city of Manbij on Tuesday.
Ultimatum by US-backed forces comes days after coalition strikes allegedly killed 56 civilians in the northern city.
Activists are claiming the USA -led anti-ISIS coalition killed as many as 160 Syrian civilians after mistaking them for ISIS fighters.
“We believe that such incidents indicate a major loophole in the current operational rules followed by the worldwide coalition in conducting strikes in populated areas”, wrote Anas Al-Abdah, president of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), in a letter to the coalition’s foreign minister, according to The Wall Street Journal. The fatalities came a day after a U.S. airstrike killed 20 civilians in Manbij, it said.
French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday he had no immediate information on whether French planes were responsible for the air strike.
The French Foreign Ministry also said in a daily briefing that it “gave no credit to statements made by the regime of Bashar al-Assad” and will rely on the results of an investigation conducted by the US-led coalition itself.
As news of the recent deadly airstrikes has circulated, many have taken to social media using the hashtag #PrayForSyria.
[.] According to Airwars, [a local monitoring group, ] the civilian death count from USA -led airstrikes in the area up to at least 190 since May 31. We could document [the identity of] 73 civilians including 35 children and 20 women.
On Wednesday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry wrote to United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki Moon and the security council, demanding they condemn the bombing of al-Tukhar and blaming France.
The airstrikes in the area are aimed at supporting a ground operation by the Syria Democratic Forces, a Kurdish and Arab alliance which is trying to drive Islamic State out of Manbij.
Despite the potential of loss of civilian life, the USA has been attempting to overtake Manbij as a major ISIS stronghold since May, and has been pushing aggressively with over 450 coalition strikes, according to the Intercept.
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region-After a brief break in fighting in Manbij, clashes resumed Friday morning between Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Islamic State (ISIS) militants, killing at least eight ISIS members.
