French warplanes - US-Led Bombings in Syria Kill 77 Civilians, Including Many Children. "It was by mistake."

Dozens of civilians, including children, were killed on Monday and Tuesday by U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria.

The strikes appeared to have been a mistake, with the civilians taken for Islamic State (IS or ISIS) militants, the U.K.-based human rights group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group told the AFP news agency.

Fifty-six civilians were killed on Tuesday by coalition forces, and 21 civilians were killed by the coalition on Monday. The 77 civilian deaths included at least 11 children.

• The BBC reported Tuesday:

    At least 56 civilians have died in US-led coalition air strikes near the Islamic State stronghold of Manbij in north Syria, opposition monitors say.

    The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said residents had been fleeing the village of Tokhar when they were hit.

    An opposition activist network said 90 had died in Tokhar and nearby Hoshriya.

    There was no immediate comment from the coalition, which has been providing air support for the Kurdish-led offensive to drive IS militants out of Manbij.

• On Monday, France24 reported:

    Air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition killed at least 21 civilians in and around a stronghold of the Islamic State group in northern Syria on Monday, a monitor said.

    At least 15 civilians were killed in raids in a northern district of Manbij while six others were killed in a village near the city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UN Commission on Human Rights warned Friday that 70,000 civilians were likely trapped in Manbij, where the international body believes the situation is "deteriorating dramatically as fighting continues between ISIL and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which is being supported by airstrikes."

Before the airstrike in Tokhar on Tuesday, Airwars, a website tracking U.S.-led coalition killings of civilians in Syria, said this is the "worst ever week" for deaths caused by the coalition in the two years since the conflict started...
 [commondreams.org]
19/7/16
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Related:

• SYRIA: Foreign Ministry sends two letters to UN Secretary General and President of SC on the bloody aggression perpetrated by French warplanes against Syrian safe civilians north of Syria

• Syria: US Coalition bombing kills 104 civilians near Manbij. "It was by mistake."