Garver said the Syrian Arab Coalition had observed a convoy of armed Islamic State fighters “who appeared to be readying for a counterattack against SAC troops in the area” and called in a coalition strike against IS buildings and vehicles. Additionally, seven strikes near Manbij hit seven Daesh tactical units and destroyed six fighting positions and an artillery piece.
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A coalition of Syrian opposition groups requested the suspension of U.S.-led airstrikes against the Islamic State terror group in Syria pending an investigation into reports that the campaign killed more than 50 civilians this week.
A local military council allied to the SDF, which has captured part of Manbij after weeks of fighting, has set Isis fighters a 48-hour deadline beginning Thursday to leave the city.
The strike was part of US attempts to claim the town of Manbij, a key site in northern Syria.
Amnesty International states that in the majority of cases where civilian deaths and casualties have been properly and credibly reported that the U.S.-led coalition “dismissed” the allegations.
If true, the claims would represent one of the deadliest incidents yet involving Syrian civilians by USA or coalition forces.
On Sunday, government forces besieged rebel-held neighborhoods of the contested city.
It follows an intense backlash over the reported deaths of at least 56 civilians, including children, in US-led strikes on an IS-held village near Manbij earlier this week.
“We will conduct an investigation on any possible civilian casualties in this matter, as we always do, and we’ll be transparent about that”, Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces said that 95 people were killed in the strikes in Manbij and al-Tukhar.
Another Manbij-affiliated Facebook page posted photographs of protesters holding a rally in the Syrian western city of Azaz. It routinely investigates civilian deaths and publishes the results of confirmed incidents. “Anyone responsible for violations of global humanitarian law must be brought to justice and victims and their families should receive full reparation”.
The strikes took place near where U.S.-backed Kurdish and Arab forces are battling ISIS.
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Al-Abdah also warned that the killing of civilians by U.S.-led airstrike campaigns could “prove to be a recruitment tool for terrorist organizations”.
