The Syrian Network for Human Rights documented the deaths of 94 civilians in under a month in the city of Manbij in the northern Aleppo countryside at the hands of the Islamic State group, the US-led international coalition, and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
A report by the UK-based organization recorded the deaths of 94 civilians, including 30 children and 11 women, saying that ISIS militants killed 32 civilians, including 11 children, five women and one media activist.
It added that “The forces of the international coalition killed 38 civilians, including 16 children and six women, while the number of civilian casualties at the hands of the Syrian Democratic Forces reached 24, including three children.”
From another side, the report noted a prominent escalation in indiscriminate arrests carried out by the ISIS forces in Manbij and the surrounding villages, which have reached 227 cases of detention, including eight children and three women.
The network noted that “the block imposed by the Syrian Democratic Forces on civilians since June 10 and their control of the villages of the western countryside of the city, have led to an increase in suffering for at least 200,000 civilians who are still under siege, in difficult living conditions,” adding that: “The risks and threats to their lives have escalated.”
According to the report, “the ISIS organization is contributing to some extent to the siege by preventing civilians from leaving in some cases, but even if the group consents, or the residents are able to flee from them, the Syrian Democratic Forces, particularly the snipers, target the civilians who want to leave.”
The network said that, “All the three forces have carried out serious violations of human rights and war crimes, represented by the killing and targeting of civilians,” adding that the air bombardment by the international coalition and the excessive and indiscriminate mortar bombardment by the Syrian Democratic Forces “has led to a large number of civilian casualties and spread fear among them.”
