The U.S. military has started a formal investigation into allegations that U.S.-led coalition air strikes killed civilians on July 19 in Syria, a U.S. military spokesman said on Wednesday.
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The death toll from Thursday’s attack is expected to rise because some civilians are in critical condition, according to the observatory, which says it knows of an additional 13 killed who have yet to be identified.
The global coalition had no immediate comment on the casualty figures reported by the Observatory.
The village is located some 10 kilometres northwest of Manbij, a key waypoint between the Turkish border and the IS de facto capital of Raqa city.
The U.S. Central Command said in a statement that it initiated an assessment after reports that Thursday’s airstrikes near Manbij may have resulted in civilian casualties.
At least 50 civilians were killed late Thursday by a suspected U.S.-led coalition airstrike in northwestern Syria’s Aleppo province, according to a local source.
The initial analysis has provided insights into the location of some Islamic State leaders, the group’s network of operatives overseas, and its finances, officials said.
“That’s our job”, said Staffan de Mistura as he explained his “suggestion” to Moscow at a press conference, a day after Russian Federation said its forces and those of the Syrian government would open humanitarian corridors around Aleppo and offer a way out for civilians and surrendering fighters.
“The clock is ticking for the Aleppo population”, he said.
Centcom is also investigating recent allegations of civilian casualties in northern Syria, including one incident that some groups say caused more than 200 civilian casualties.
The strikes come in the context of the USA support to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, which has besieged Manbej in a bid to flush out IS fighters.
On July 22, the military coalition also killed at least 20 civilians in Manbij and claimed the lives of at least 30 more, including 11 children, in the same city on June 9, in aerial attacks purportedly conducted against positions of Daesh in the area.
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said that the hospital in the rebel-held town of Kafar Takharim was heavily damaged and left barely operational. “The rest of the dead bodies are charred, or have been reduced to shreds”, Adnan al-Housen, an activist from Manbij, told the Guardian.
