Thursday’s announcement comes two days after strikes launched by the US-led coalition fighting ISIL (also known as ISIS) reportedly killed at least 56 civilians in the Tokhar area in the northern city of Manbij of the Aleppo governate.
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Overall, the U.S. military has confirmed 36 civilian deaths from its airstrikes since summer 2015, a figure independent observers consider too low to be credible, considering the daily barrage of air-delivered United States ordnance for almost two years.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Manbij’s population density, which is estimated to be in the tens of thousands, makes it hard to avoid civilian deaths.
The Syrian official opposition is calling for suspension of the International Anti-ISIS Coalition airstrikes after one of them killed at least 56 civilians on Tuesday, northeast of Aleppo.
It’s still unclear exactly where it happened, and how many people it killed.
Although these air strikes are aimed at ISIS, they’re only legal because of a resolution from 15 years ago to fight Al Qaeda..
Supported by US coalition air strikes, the SDF has surrounded and fought their way into parts of the city, but Islamic State attacks still occur in some areas of the surrounding countryside.
Al-Abdah warned the killing of Syrians now at the hands of the worldwide coalition “will only push them further into a spiral of despair and, more importantly, will prove to be a recruitment tool for terrorist organisations”.
Estimates of the death toll vary.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Wednesday the U.S. -led force would look into the reports of civilian casualties around Manbij.
USA military investigators are looking into claims of the mass killing in Manbij. However, the International Coalition has ignored the majority of cases when civilian deaths have been reliably demonstrated to this day, says Amnesty International.
So far, SDF fighters have avoided an all-out assault to minimize civilian casualties.
The Manbij area has seen intense battles between IS extremists and the Kurdish-led fighters, who have been advancing under the cover of intense airstrikes by the USA -led coalition.
“He urges them to lift all sieges, to respect the safety of medical and humanitarian workers, and to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure”, Haq said.
Earlier this month, Amnesty International said the militant group was among several opposition outfits committing war crimes and other violations of international law. The IS-linked Aamaq news agency said the US-led coalition carried out about 20 air strikes on the centre of Manbij on Friday.
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“We are aware of reports alleging civilian casualties near Manbij, Syria, recently”. In neighboring Iraq, meanwhile, IS has been beaten back on several fronts, with Iraqi forces, aided by US -led coalition airstrikes, having retaken the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah in western Anbar province.
