Islamic State given 48 hours to leave Syria's Manbij by US-backed SDF forces
An SDF fighter walks past destroyed building near IS-held Manbij (AFP)
Syrian boy holds leaflet dropped by Syrian Democratic Forces alliance plane reading in Arabic: "The will of the Syrian people will break the chains of the terrorists" as US-backed Kurdish and Arab fighters advance into IS-held Manbij region (AFP)
Ultimatum follows public outrage after 56 civilians reportedly killed in US-led airstrikes on Tuesday
Thursday 21 July 2016
US-backed fighters on Thursday gave the Islamic State (IS) group 48 hours to leave the battleground Syrian town of Manbij, after US-led air strikes nearby killed scores of people reported to be civilians.
The 48-hour ultimatum was issued by the Arab-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who are fighting IS with coalition air support.
The SDF has been waging a major campaign since June to oust IS from Manbij, in Aleppo province, with US-led air support.
The deadline follows a major backlash after reports that at least 56 civilians, including children, were killed in air strikes by the coalition near Manbij on Tuesday.
"In order to protect civilian lives and property and to protect the town from destruction we announce that we accept the initiative under which besieged IS members would leave with their individual light weapons," said the Manbij Military Council, part of the SDF.
"This initiative is the last remaining chance for besieged members of Daesh (IS) to leave the town."
An SDF commander said the initiative was first floated last week by tribal leaders in Manbij, which is a key IS bastion.
"But we took this decision now after IS used residents as human shields, after the media pressure on us, and to protect whatever civilians are left in the town," he said on condition of anonymity.
The statement also urged civilians to try to leave Manbij or distance themselves from areas where clashes are taking place.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the civilians killed on Tuesday were villagers fleeing fighting in Tukhar, 14 kilometres from Manbij.
On Thursday afternoon, the Observatory reported quiet in Manbij, though it was unclear if the calm was temporary or in response to the SDF's ultimatum.
Earlier in the day, the monitor had reported additional US-led air strikes and it said the SDF had advanced inside the town overnight.
Rules of engagement
A monitoring group said the US-led coalition appeared to have loosened its rules of engagement in Syria, putting civilian lives at greater risk.
The London-based Airwars group said the coalition had conducted "intense" raids targeting IS militants around Manbij, including Tuesday's deadly attack in nearby Tuhkar.
That raid came after what has been described as the "worst week" in two years of the coalition campaign in Syria, with at least 55 civilians reported killed around Manbij in the week of 11 July to 18 July.
The US has promised to investigate the civilian deaths, but Airwars said many more civilians may die as a result of an apparent shift in the US-led coalition's policies of engagement. It also said the coalition may be seriously under-reporting civilian deaths caused by its bombs.
Chris Woods, director of Airwars, told Middle East Eye on Thursday: “We are seeing very intense air strikes on built-up urban areas where significant numbers of civilians are trapped.
“Unfortunately, that has been shown time and again to be a recipe for high civilian casualties. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing around Manbij.
“But in Manbij the number of these events is far higher than what we’ve seen. That concerns us because we think the coalition may have loosened the parameters for their air strikes, putting civilians at greater risk."
The group also said that evidence gathered from witnesses, local activists and news reports suggests that the coalition's official death tolls are often hugely under-reported.
Airwars said as many as 190 civilians may have died around Manbij since the coalition and its Kurdish-Arab allies in the SDF launched the offensive against IS.
The coalition has significantly curbed its activities around the town since Tuesday's strike in Tuhkar. Reported strikes fell from 18 between Monday and Tuesday to just five between Tuesday and Wednesday.
“This appears to be an immediate response [by the US], and is certainly welcome from the perspective of civilians,” Woods said.
The SDF confirmed this week that it had provided intelligence for a coalition strike on Tuhkar on Tuesday, but has denied that any civilians were killed in the bombing.
That is contradicted by local activists who say relatives were struggling to find safe places to bury victims, with some forced to use mass graves.
US promises investigation
The US has said it is “aware” of reports of civilian casualties in Syria this week, and has promised a “transparent” investigation.
"We’re aware of reports of civilian casualties,” Defence Secretary Ash Carter said on Wednesday.
“We’ll investigate these reports and continue to do all we can to protect civilians,” he continued. “Being transparent about this issue is a reflection of the civilized nature of this coalition.”
Woods said the US has dragged its feet on investigations and under-reports civilian deaths caused by coalition attacks by as much as 95 percent.
“The coalition claims to have killed just 41 civilians; we think that figure is hopelessly unrealistic.”
Airwars said it took on average six months between an attack and any public admission by commanders, meaning there will probably be no confirmation of Tukhar or Manbij until well into next year.
The coalition said it has carried out 450 air raids around Manbij since the SDF imposed its siege on the town two months ago.
UN data from Afghanistan indicates that every 11th airstrike there results in a civilian death, while official White House data from operations in countries including Yemen and Pakistan show that, on average, one civilian is killed for every seven raids.
A spokesman for Inherent Resolve, the coalition's Syrian operation, told MEE: "Coalition airstrikes are the most precise in the history of warfare. Mitigating civilian casualties is a key component of the air campaign and is why we use precision weapons.
"We apply very rigorous standards in our targeting process to avoid or to minimize civilian casualties.
"We take all reports of non-combatant casualties seriously and assess all incidents as thoroughly as possible. It's important to note that the current environment in Syria makes investigating allegations extremely challenging.
"Until these investigations and associated processes are completed, it is inappropriate to discuss details.
"We have seen [IS] using more civilians as human shields in the Manbij area. We've seen them during the Manbij fight pushing civilians toward the lines of [allied forces] to try to draw fire.
"While the investigative process will provide details on this particular incident, and we don't know what happened, we won't be surprised if this is somehow a factor."
International protests
Syrian activists called for international protests over the incident, and local demonstrations have already been held inside Syria.
The opposition Syrian National Coalition on Wednesday urged the US-led anti-IS alliance to halt its strikes to allow a thorough investigation into what it termed a "massacre".
Coalition president Anas al-Abdah said the alliance was responsible for the "crimes" in Manbij, which he said killed at least 125 civilians.
And there has also been international consternation, with the UN children's agency UNICEF saying it had received reports as many as 20 children might have been killed in the incident.
"No matter where they are in Syria or under whose control they live, absolutely nothing justifies attacks on children," said UNICEF's Syria representative, Hanaa Singer.
Rights group Amnesty International also expressed alarm and demanded "a prompt, independent and transparent investigation."
Elsewhere in Syria
Elsewhere in the country, the Observatory said at least 51 civilians had been killed in bombardment of rebel-held areas.
It said at least 13 people, including three children, were killed in government air strikes and shelling on the Eastern Ghouta area outside the capital Damascus.
Another 23 people were killed in strikes in Idlib province, though it was not clear if they were carried out by the government or its Russian ally.
Government bombardments also hit two neighbourhoods of the rebel-held east of Aleppo city, where 15 people were killed, among them six children, the Observatory said.
Opposition-held neighbourhoods of Aleppo have been effectively under siege for the past two weeks, after government forces severed the only remaining supply route into the east of the city.
The UN on Thursday called for a weekly 48-hour truce in Aleppo to allow aid deliveries to the besieged east.
Jan Egeland, the head of the UN-backed humanitarian taskforce for Syria, warned that more than 200,000 people in eastern Aleppo were "on the brink of starvation".
"Humanitarian convoys are ready, humanitarian workers are ready. We have the supplies. We need a break in the fighting," he said.
