The United States military has started a formal investigation into what officials are calling credible claims of civilian casualties from a U.S.-led coalition airstrike in Manbij, Syria.
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Col. Chris Garver told reporters at the Pentagon via a video conference that the coalition has initiated a credibility assessment of civilian casualties caused by two airstrikes last week.
Smoke and flame rise after US-led airstrikes on the city of Manbij in Aleppo province on June 16, 2016.
Four more civilians died in Mosul on April 29 during strikes targeting the Australian Neil Prakash – considered to be an influential IS group recruiter – who also died in the bombardment. More than 520 U.S. airstrikes since 21 May have killed between 229 and 425 civilians overall.
The ministry also cited remarkable similarities between the “massacres” perpetrated by the US-led coalition and the terror groups operating in Syria, saying both sides are trying to exacerbate the situation across the country following the Syrian army’s recent victories in Aleppo city.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter had said last week that the Defense Department would probe the reports of civilian casualties.
Almousa said most of the villagers fled before the extremists retook al-Bouweir but the men who remained were killed.
The strikes come in the context of the US support to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, which has besieged Manbej in a bid to flush out IS fighters.
Manbij has strategic value for another reason: it provides a pathway for Isis to exfiltrate fighters through Turkey to the outside world.
“The biggest challenge the SDF has found is that ISIS is keeping civilians in the city centre and not allowing them to leave”, he said.
– On July 28, 2015, near Idlib, Syria, during a strike on a senior Khorasan Group adviser, it is assessed that three civilians were killed and one vehicle destroyed when their vehicle appeared in the target area after the coalition aircraft released its weapon.
“We will aggressively pursue opportunities to build pressure on ISIL in Syria from the south, complimenting our existing and robust efforts”, Carter said, using an acronym for Islamic State.
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.
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Garver said Wednesday that death estimates from residents near Manbij ranged from a low of “10 to 15” to a high of 73.
