At least 56 civilians were killed on July 19 in air strikes north of the
besieged Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)-held city of
Manbij in northern Syria, and residents said they believed the attack
was carried out by U.S.-led warplanes, a monitoring group said.
The
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the dead
included 11 children, and that dozens more people were wounded.
The
U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and
Arab fighters, launched an offensive at the end of May to seize the last
territory held by ISIL insurgents on Syria’s frontier with Turkey.
Supported
by U.S. coalition air strikes, the SDF have surrounded the city, but
ISIL attacks still occur in some areas of the surrounding countryside.
On
July 18, 21 people were killed in raids also believed to have been
conducted by U.S.-led coalition aircraft on Manbij’s northern Hazawneh
quarter.
But progress into Manbij city has been slow. The
militants have deployed snipers, planted mines and prevented civilians
from leaving, hampering efforts to bomb the city without causing heavy
casualties, according to Kurdish sources.
The Observatory said at least 104 civilians have died from air strikes since the start of the Manbij offensive in late May.
Colonel
Chris Garver, a spokesman for the U.S. coalition against ISIL in Syria
and Iraq, said it was looking into reports of civilian deaths but was
being “extraordinarily careful to make sure” air strikes were killing
ISIL fighters.
“Around Manbij, the Syrian Arab Coalition [SAC –
Arab groups within the SDF], which is leading that fight, is being very
slow and deliberate in that fight to protect civilians which we know are
inside.”
The SDF also consists of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic
Union Party’s (PYD) military wing, the People’s Protection Unit (YPG),
which Turkey designates as terrorist organization and this designation
causes a rift between Turkey and the U.S.
The U.N. High
Commissioner for Human Rights recently voiced concern for the roughly
70,000 civilians believed to be trapped between warring parties in
Manbij.
“Civilians have…reportedly been killed if they leave
their homes or attempt to flee. Families are unable to access local
cemeteries to bury their relatives who have died or been killed, and are
burying them in their gardens or keeping the corpses in bunkers,” Zeid
Ra’ad Al Hussein said.
“The town has no electricity or water at
present, and no medical facilities are known to be operating. As the SDF
closes in on the city, [ISIL] has not permitted civilians to leave the
area.”
The coalition said it has conducted more than 450 strikes
in the vicinity of Manbij. It routinely investigates civilian deaths
and publishes the results of confirmed incidents.
Between Sept.
10, 2015 and Feb. 2, 2016, coalition air strikes in Iraq and Syria
probably killed 20 civilians and injured 11 others, the U.S. Central
Command said in April.