United States ‘anti-ISIS’ bombs kill 56 Syrian civilians

This photo shows civilians who fled Manbij settling in areas of Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), June 19, 2016. (Photos: Reuters/Rodi Said)

From Associated Press today:

Airstrikes on ISIS-Held Villages in Syria Kill 56 Civilians

Bassem Mroue

…

(BEIRUT) — Airstrikes on ISIS-held villages in northern Syria killed at least 56 civilians on Tuesday as intense fighting was underway between the militants and U.S-backed fighters, Syrian opposition activists and the extremist group said.

Residents in the area blamed the U.S.-led coalition for the strikes that targeted two villages, Tokhar and Hoshariyeh, … activists said. …

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 56 civilians, including 11 children, were killed in the strikes on the villages, which also wounded dozens. Another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, said dozens of civilians, mostly families, were killed.

The ISIS-linked Aamaq news agency claimed 160 civilians — mostly women and children — were killed in Tokhar alone, in a series of purportedly American airstrikes around dawn Tuesday.

The reports and the disparate casualty tolls could not be independently confirmed because the area is inaccessible to independent media. There was no immediate comment from Washington.

Postings on a Facebook page show images of people, including children, as they were being put in collective grave, purportedly in the village of Tokhar. One photograph shows a man carrying the lifeless body of a child covered with dust while another shows a child, partly covered by a blanket, lying in a grave.

The photographs appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting of the events depicted. Tuesday’s casualties come on the heels of similar airstrikes on the ISIS-held town of Manbij on Monday, when at least 15 civilians were reportedly killed.