Among the 24 killed were six children; in addition between 10 and 15 SDF fighters were also killed in the attack.
“Two local residents told Human Rights Watch that before sunrise on August 28, Turkish aircraft struck SDF forces who had just disembarked from military vehicles among residential buildings in which about four dozen civilians had sought shelter from nearby fighting,” reads the report. “Artillery shelling soon after resulted in additional casualties.”
The human rights monitor stated that both Turkish and SDF forces could have done more to protect civilian lives.
“The deaths of 24 civilians could have been avoided if the SDF fighters hadn’t positioned themselves among buildings filled with civilians and Turkish forces had made a better effort to determine whether civilians were there,” said the deputy emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, Ole Solvang.
“It’s unlawful to put civilians at unnecessary risk, and even an attack on a military target can be unlawful if the likely harm to civilians isn’t taken into account.”
According to information gathered by Human Rights Watch, including interviewing survivors, in the early morning of August 28, SDF forces brought in armed vehicles and positioned themselves on the roofs of buildings occupied by civilians.
Residents reportedly asked the forces to leave but they refused.
Within 30 minutes, Turkish aircraft struck the houses.
“It was as if we were inside a dormant volcano that suddenly erupted,” one of the residents told Human Rights Watch. “I woke up in shock. The smell of explosives, the smell of the death – it was everywhere.”
That same day, Turkey’s state run Anadolu Agency ran the headline “Air strikes ‘neutralize’ 25 PKK/PYD terrorists in Syria,” referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD).
The news report said that the Turkish military was taking “all necessary measures” to ensure protection of the civilian population.
He said that three attacks by militias backed by Turkey had killed tens of civilians.
"We declare to the public opinion that Manbej city received in the past few days more than hundred of families after Turkish intervention with the Islamic militias in southern and western of Jarablus," reads his statement.
"This confirms that the displacement of the local population is happening because of the refusal of local people to accept the Turkish occupation."
He asked the US and international bodies to investigate the incidents.
