27 Civilians Killed in Flurry of Airstrikes, Shellings Across Syria

Nine Reported Slain in US Strikes Against Manbij

At least 27 civilians were killed across Syria today, in a flurry of attacks across the country including airstrikes by both the Syrian and US militaries, as well as artillery shellings by the rebels against a government-held district.

The largest incident was in Tariq al-Baab, in Aleppo Province, where a Syrian military airstrike hit a crowded marketplace, killing 11 people. Another government airstrike killed five in Sheikh Said.

Meanwhile, US airstrikes against Manbij, which the US-backed Kurdish YPG is attacking, killed nine civilians, including seven children, while two more civilians were reported killed in the bombardment of government-held parts of Aleppo.

Aleppo has been the center of a lot of the recent fighting in Syria, with the government and al-Qaeda each controlling about half, and regularly trading strikes. Much of Aleppo has been destroyed, and civilian neighborhoods tend to be in the line of fire in both cases, raising the civilian tolls.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.