Civilians bear the brunt — Daesh kills 24, coalition 28

BEIRUT: Daesh has executed at least 24 civilians after seizing a village in northern Syria from a US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance, a monitor said Friday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Daesh executed 24 civilians “in the last 24 hours” after taking Buyir from the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The village is located some 10 km northwest of Manbij, a key waypoint between the Turkish border and the IS de facto capital of Raqqa city.

Daesh seized control of several villages in the countryside northwest of Manbij since launching a “fierce assault” on Thursday, according to the Observatory, which relies on sources inside Syria for its information.

The SDF, backed by air strikes from a US-led coalition, launched an offensive to retake Manbij from Daesh on May 31.

The alliance managed to enter the town but have since faced fierce opposition from the extremists who have fought back with suicide bombers and car bombs.

Meanwhile, US-led coalition targeting a village in northern Syria held by Daesh killed 28 civilians, including seven children, Syrian activists said Friday. The Britainbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said aircraft belonging to the coalition struck the village of Al-Ghandour late on Thursday previous night.

Observatory’s chief Rami Adurrahman said another 13 people were killed in the strikes but that he could not say if they were Daesh fighters or civilians. Al-Ghandour is 24 km northwest of the town of Manbij, a key hub in the extremist group’s Syria network and a supply route to Daesh’s de facto capital of Raqqa.

The international coalition had no immediate comment on the casualty figures reported by the Observatory. The bombings came a week after airstrikes, also blamed by Syrian activists on US aircraft, killed at least 56 civilians in Daesh-held territory in northern Syria.