The Islamic State (IS) group killed 24 civilians after capturing a town in northern Syria, a monitor group reported on Friday.
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Manbij, the scene of intense fighting for over two months between Isis and US-backed militant groups, has now experienced another airstrike that “may have resulted in civilian casualties”, the US Central Command (Centcom) disclosed late on Thursday.
U.S.-led airstrikes killed at least 28 civilians, including seven children, in Syria on Thursday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Chris Woods is an investigative journalist who leads Airwars, a group of researchers and reporters based in the middle east and Europe who focus on civilian casualties from worldwide airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 56 civilians, including 11 children, died as they fled from a village near Manbij, a strategic waypoint between Turkey and the jihadist stronghold of Raqa.
The Observatory’s chief Rami Adurrahman said another 13 people were killed in the strikes but he could not say if they were “IS” fighters or civilians.
According to local sources, there are no worldwide aid organizations working to help IDPs in the region.
“In two letters addressed to head of the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary-General, the [foreign] ministry called for stopping attacks and atrocities committed against civilians, calling for bringing the perpetrators to justice, ” stated the Syrian state news agency SANA.
Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), now controlling parts of it.
Kurdish fighters have been a key force battling the jihadists in north and northeastern Syria and are the main component in the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance now seeking to oust IS from Manbij. “The rest of the dead bodies are charred, or have been reduced to shreds”, Adnan al-Housen, an activist from Manbij, told the Guardian.
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“The death toll is 117”. There have been reports that as many as 50 civilians were killed in the strike carried out in the Aleppo province. The coalition has conducted more than 520 airstrikes in support of the SAC push to reclaim Manbij from Islamic State fighters. “If the information supporting the report is determined to be credible, we will then determine the next appropriate step”, the statement released Thursday said.
