SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
US to Keep Bombing Syria Despite Civilian Deaths and Humanitarian Pleas
Asked if airstrikes would pause, chief spokesman for U.S. military in Iraq and Syria said, "No. Operations continue against [ISIS.]"
Jul 22, 2016
The U.S. says airstrikes on Syria will continue, despite reports of dozens of civilian deaths and the pleas of opposition activists and human rights groups.
The Guardian reports:
Anas Alabdah, president of the Syrian National Coalition, has called on the U.S. to suspend its airstrikes until it performs a thorough investigation into the attack near the contested northern city of Manbij on Tuesday that Syrian activists say killed at least 73 civilians--and possibly more than 125.
[....] The U.S. has launched at least 12 airstrikes since the destruction in the village of Tokkhar, according to a daily tally released by the military. Asked by the Guardian if the military will pause airstrikes, Army Colonel Christopher Garver, chief spokesman for the U.S. military command in Iraq and Syria, replied: "No. Operations continue against Daesh," another name for ISIS.
The escalation in violence follows U.S.-backed Syrian fighters giving ISIS militants 48 hours to leave Manbij as part of a "last-ditch effort to protect civilian lives," the Associated Press reports.
UNICEF estimated this week that "35,000 children are trapped in and around Manbij with nowhere safe to go. In the past six weeks, and as violence has intensified, over 2,300 people were reportedly killed in the area, among them dozens of children."
"We deplore all forms of violence and urge all parties to the conflict in Syria to make every effort to avoid the loss of civilian lives," the group said.
The AP continues:
The fighting around Manbij coincides with an uptick in fighting in the contested city of Aleppo where government forces have completely encircled the eastern, rebel-held parts of the city, trapping hundreds of thousands of people inside.
Stephen O'Brien, the U.N.'s emergency relief coordinator, said he is "gravely alarmed" by developments in eastern Aleppo. "Food in east Aleppo is expected to run out by the middle of next month," he warned.
The news also comes as the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) warns that the situation in Aleppo, Syria's largest city, is "devastating and overwhelming," with every neighborhood coming under heavy fire in recent days.
"We hear that dozens of civilians are being killed every day and scores more injured from shells, mortars and rockets. The bombing is constant. The violence is threatening hundreds of thousands of people's lives, homes and livelihoods," said Marianne Gasser, head of the ICRC's Syria delegation, in a statement on Thursday.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
The U.S. says airstrikes on Syria will continue, despite reports of dozens of civilian deaths and the pleas of opposition activists and human rights groups.
The Guardian reports:
Anas Alabdah, president of the Syrian National Coalition, has called on the U.S. to suspend its airstrikes until it performs a thorough investigation into the attack near the contested northern city of Manbij on Tuesday that Syrian activists say killed at least 73 civilians--and possibly more than 125.
[....] The U.S. has launched at least 12 airstrikes since the destruction in the village of Tokkhar, according to a daily tally released by the military. Asked by the Guardian if the military will pause airstrikes, Army Colonel Christopher Garver, chief spokesman for the U.S. military command in Iraq and Syria, replied: "No. Operations continue against Daesh," another name for ISIS.
The escalation in violence follows U.S.-backed Syrian fighters giving ISIS militants 48 hours to leave Manbij as part of a "last-ditch effort to protect civilian lives," the Associated Press reports.
UNICEF estimated this week that "35,000 children are trapped in and around Manbij with nowhere safe to go. In the past six weeks, and as violence has intensified, over 2,300 people were reportedly killed in the area, among them dozens of children."
"We deplore all forms of violence and urge all parties to the conflict in Syria to make every effort to avoid the loss of civilian lives," the group said.
The AP continues:
The fighting around Manbij coincides with an uptick in fighting in the contested city of Aleppo where government forces have completely encircled the eastern, rebel-held parts of the city, trapping hundreds of thousands of people inside.
Stephen O'Brien, the U.N.'s emergency relief coordinator, said he is "gravely alarmed" by developments in eastern Aleppo. "Food in east Aleppo is expected to run out by the middle of next month," he warned.
The news also comes as the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) warns that the situation in Aleppo, Syria's largest city, is "devastating and overwhelming," with every neighborhood coming under heavy fire in recent days.
"We hear that dozens of civilians are being killed every day and scores more injured from shells, mortars and rockets. The bombing is constant. The violence is threatening hundreds of thousands of people's lives, homes and livelihoods," said Marianne Gasser, head of the ICRC's Syria delegation, in a statement on Thursday.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
The U.S. says airstrikes on Syria will continue, despite reports of dozens of civilian deaths and the pleas of opposition activists and human rights groups.
The Guardian reports:
Anas Alabdah, president of the Syrian National Coalition, has called on the U.S. to suspend its airstrikes until it performs a thorough investigation into the attack near the contested northern city of Manbij on Tuesday that Syrian activists say killed at least 73 civilians--and possibly more than 125.
[....] The U.S. has launched at least 12 airstrikes since the destruction in the village of Tokkhar, according to a daily tally released by the military. Asked by the Guardian if the military will pause airstrikes, Army Colonel Christopher Garver, chief spokesman for the U.S. military command in Iraq and Syria, replied: "No. Operations continue against Daesh," another name for ISIS.
The escalation in violence follows U.S.-backed Syrian fighters giving ISIS militants 48 hours to leave Manbij as part of a "last-ditch effort to protect civilian lives," the Associated Press reports.
UNICEF estimated this week that "35,000 children are trapped in and around Manbij with nowhere safe to go. In the past six weeks, and as violence has intensified, over 2,300 people were reportedly killed in the area, among them dozens of children."
"We deplore all forms of violence and urge all parties to the conflict in Syria to make every effort to avoid the loss of civilian lives," the group said.
The AP continues:
The fighting around Manbij coincides with an uptick in fighting in the contested city of Aleppo where government forces have completely encircled the eastern, rebel-held parts of the city, trapping hundreds of thousands of people inside.
Stephen O'Brien, the U.N.'s emergency relief coordinator, said he is "gravely alarmed" by developments in eastern Aleppo. "Food in east Aleppo is expected to run out by the middle of next month," he warned.
The news also comes as the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) warns that the situation in Aleppo, Syria's largest city, is "devastating and overwhelming," with every neighborhood coming under heavy fire in recent days.
"We hear that dozens of civilians are being killed every day and scores more injured from shells, mortars and rockets. The bombing is constant. The violence is threatening hundreds of thousands of people's lives, homes and livelihoods," said Marianne Gasser, head of the ICRC's Syria delegation, in a statement on Thursday.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.