Manbij: DoD on reports airstrikes killed civilians. 22 July 2016

Army Col. Christopher Garver, Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman. Department Defense Press Briefing via Teleconference from Baghdad: July.22.2016 Transcript: http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Tran... Courtesy Defense Media Activity: https://www.dvidshub.net/video/475835... US SAYS AIRSTRIKES ON SYRIAN CITY MANBIJ TO CONTINUE DESPITE CIVILIAN DEATHS - 22 July - The US will not pause airstrikes in Syria despite appeals from opposition activists after what appears to be the worst US-caused civilian casualty disaster of the war against the Islamic State. [...] Garver, in a Friday briefing, described the weeks-long fight for Manbij as “very intense”, with Isis reinforcing its positions toward the center of the city as the US’s ground force proxies have taken approximately the western half of it and pressure it on multiple sides. [...] As he did immediately after the strike, Garver suggested that any civilian deaths might have been attributable to Isis placing noncombatants into the line of fire as human shields or “mixed in or among the Daesh fighters”. While emphasizing the information he had was preliminary, Garver said the airstrike on Tuesday occurred after Syrian opposition fighters on the ground observed a convoy with a substantial numbers of Isis fighters “who appeared to be readying for a counterattack against SAC [US-aligned Syrian Arab Coalition] troops in the area, and a strike was called in on Daesh. The strike was against both buildings and vehicles.” Garver said the US did not have a clear picture on the civilian death toll, saying “internal” sources were “concerned about between 10 or 20”, preliminarily, though he referenced what he called “kind of a wild speculation toward 73” dead civilians in the press. Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/201... US AIRSTRIKES ALLEGEDLY KILL AT LEAST 73 CIVILIANS IN NORTHERN SYRIA - 20 July - US airstrikes on a Syrian village have killed at least 73 civilians, a majority of them women and children, activists say, in the deadliest coalition attack on non-combatants since the start of the bombing campaign against the Islamic State. [...] Army Col Christopher Garver, the chief spokesman for the US-led war effort, said the command in Baghdad was aware of reports of civilian casualties and is reviewing the incident, which could lead to a formal investigation. [...] Garver also said that Isis was increasingly using civilians as human shields around Manbij, and suggested that could have been a factor in any deaths. “We have seen Da’esh using more civilians as human shields in the Manbij area. We’ve seen them during the fight pushing civilians toward the lines of the SDF to try to draw fire. While the investigative process will provide details on this particular incident, and we don’t know what happened, I won’t be surprised if this is somehow a factor,” Garver said. Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/201...