A Central Command release stated the Operation Inherent Resolve coalition conducted 19 airstrikes near Manbij on Thursday that struck 19 Islamic State group tactical units and destroyed 17 fighting positions, a heavy machine gun and two vehicles.
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According to the United Kingdom -based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the latest casualties came after worldwide coalition “warplanes targeted areas in the town of al-Ghandour, which is more than 23 kilometers [14 miles] away from Manbij city, and the death toll is expected to rise because there are some people in critical situation”.
US -backed forces fighting to drive Islamic State out of northern Syria have gathered a massive trove of documents and data belonging to the militant group, potentially shedding more light on its operations, a USA military official said on Wednesday.
IS launched a “fierce” counter-offensive near Manbij on Thursday and has now captured several villages, the UK-based observatory said.
“The material, gathered as fighters moved from village to village surrounding the town of Manbij, includes notebooks, laptops, USB drives, and even advanced math and science textbooks rewritten with pro-Islamic State word problems”, Reuters reports, citing USA military spokesman Col. Chris Garver.
Reports of further civilian deaths from coaltion air strikes come as attempts by attempts by John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state, to elicit Russian cooperation in the fight against ISIL hit two serious hurdles.
We could document [the identity of] 73 civilians including 35 children and 20 women. He said the Iraqi security forces will push from the south, along the Tigris River, and the Iraqi Kurdish militia, known as the Peshmerga, will push from the north.
Daesh has executed at least 24 civilians after seizing a village in northern Syria from a US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance, a monitor said on Friday.
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 investigation “is still in its early phase and we do not have all the facts at this time, and we do not have any conclusions”, Cook said.
The reports of further civilian deaths from coalition air strikes emerged amid setbacks to attempts by the USA and Russian Federation to cooperate militarily in the fight against ISIL. The global coalition was believed to have conducted the air strikes, the group said.
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The attack also left around 100 other people injured, who were then taken to hospitals in Daesh-controlled cities of al-Bab and Jarabulus, northeast of Aleppo city, according to the same source.
