On Wednesday, the USA military announced that it would formally investigate an airstrike on July 19, in the nearby village of Tokkhar, which left at least 56 civilians, including as many as 10 children.
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Garver also revealed that a second initial investigation is now underway to determine the credibility of allegations surrounding civilian deaths during an alleged strike on July 23 to the east of Manbij.
The group’s president, Anas al-Abdeh, said civilian casualties could heighten a sense of desperation among Syrians and provide a recruiting tool for extremist groups like IS.
He was speaking to members of the 18th Airborne Corps because they are scheduled to deploy to Baghdad shortly to serve as the higher headquarters for the coalition, under Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, who will take over as the top USA commander there for Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland.
It said on Thursday that Manbij had been hit by another airstrike that “may have resulted in civilian casualties” in the previous 24 hours. Only after the strike did the U.S.-led coalition receive reports from sources indicating there may have been civilians in the area.
The US-led coalition of more than 60 nations has been carrying out airstrikes against Daesh militants in Syria and Iraq since 2014.
The Violations Documentation Centre, which keeps a detailed public database of civilian deaths in the conflict, says 513 Syrian civilians have been killed by worldwide coalition attacks since their aircraft joined the conflict.
The strike, in the village of Tokkhar, took place during a battle for Manbij, a strategic Syrian city, that is now in its third month.
Coalition air strikes leave 28 dead, including seven children, in Aleppo governorate, monitoring group says.
The Syrian government and its Russian ally proposed a joint plan on Thursday to open up a route to give rebels willing to surrender, and the more than 300,000 civilians in Aleppo, a way out. US Central Command has said it is probing the reports of civilian deaths.
– On April 29, 2016, in Mosul, Iraq, during a strike targeting Neil Prakash, an ISIL external operations facilitator, it is assessed that four civilians were killed when the weapon struck three civilians on the road and one civilian located on an adjacent compound.
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“Since the siege began it’s our view that at least 190 civilians have been killed by coalition airstrikes, mostly US”, Wood added, referring to the regime’s siege on Syria’s largest city, Aleppo.
