Up to 28 Civilians Reportedly Killed in US-Led Strike in Syria

Up to 28 Civilians Reportedly Killed in US-Led Strike in Syria

 

Up to 28 Civilians Reportedly Killed in US-Led Strike in Syria

Fresh strike took place in same area where US is said to have killed scores in airstrikes last week 

 By Andrea Germanos
/ commondreams.org

Two U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft fly over northern
Iraq Sept. 23, 2014, after conducting airstrikes in Syria. (Photo:  DoD)

The U.S.-led coalition has been accused of killing as many as 28
civilians, including a woman and seven children, near the northern
Syrian city of Manbij on Thursday—the same area where U.S.-led
airstrikes last week may have killed scores of civilians.

"The Manbij area," as the Associated Press describes,
"has seen extensive battles between IS [Islamic State or ISIS]
extremists and U.S.-backed Kurdish-led fighters." It is also where
UNICEF estimated last week that there are 35,000 children trapped "with nowhere safe to go."

According to the
U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the latest casualties
came after international 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."

U.S. Central Command issued a press release Thursday
in response to the allegation. It confirmed coalition "airstrikes in
the area in the last 24 hours," adding, "As with every report of
civilian casualties, we will review any information we have about the
incident."

The U.S. military said Wednesday it was opening a formal investigation into whether civilians were killed in last week's airstrike that may have killed over 70 people, including women and children.

And on Friday, a maternity hospital in the northwestern part of the country was hit by an airstrike. It is not clear at this point who carried out the attack or if the hospital was directly targeted.

According to the U.K.-based charity Save the Children, which supports
the Idlib province hospital, airstrikes hit the entrance to the
building. At least two people have been killed, the charity told the Independent.

The news of the fresh strikes comes after Russian and Syrian officials announcedhumanitarian
corridors for those civilians and surrendering rebels seeking to flee
the northern city of Aleppo, which is roughly 50 miles from Manbij. 
According to U.N. Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, however,
the creation of safe corridors is "our job." 

"How do you expect people to walk through a corridor—thousands of
them—while there is shelling, bombing, fighting?" de Mistura said.

Human rights group Amnesty International also expressed caution.

"For years the Syrian government has blocked crucial aid from
reaching besieged civilians while subjecting them to the horrors of
daily shelling and air strikes, using starvation as a weapon of war and
deliberately causing unbearable suffering to those living in
opposition-held areas," said Philip Luther, director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa program.

 

Two U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft fly over northern Iraq
Sept. 23, 2014, after conducting airstrikes in Syria. (Photo: DoD)