Fighting in Syrian city yields trove of IS intelligence
“How do you expect people to walk through a corridor – thousands of them – while there is shelling, bombing, fighting?” de Mistura said.
SOHR also said that it had obtained information that 13 others were killed, but it was not certain if they were civilians or members of the Islamic State group.
“We can confirm the Coalition conducted airstrikes in the area in the last 24 hours”, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
Garver also revealed that the USA for the first time has placed its military advisers at lower-level Iraqi army headquarters, an important decision that places the Americans closer to the front lines.
The U.S. military announced Wednesday that it would undertake a formal investigation into an airstrike in northern Syria that may have resulted in civilian casualties.
– On February 15, 2016, near Al Qaim, Iraq, during a strike on an ISIL staging area, it is assessed that three civilians were killed.
Earlier in the day, CENTCOM released ” results of several civilian casualty assessments”, which confirmed civilian casualties had taken place in six separate United States airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.
Estimates of the dead vary.
The SDF, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, launched an offensive to retake Manbij from ISIL on May 31 but has faced fierce opposition from the jihadists who have fought back with suicide bombers and vehicle bombs.
The Violations Documentation Centre, which keeps a detailed public database of civilian deaths in the conflict, says 513 Syrian civilians have been killed by global coalition attacks since their aircraft joined the conflict.
“Providing safe routes for those civilians who wish to flee Aleppo city will not avert a humanitarian catastrophe”. This is the most risky country on earth for civilians and journalists alike.
The Defense Department has since buckled down on transparency surrounding its campaign against ISIS, and routinely releases figures detailing where, when and how many civilians have been killed by its airstrikes against ISIS strongholds in Iraq and Syria.