Ghandoura massacre

The Ghandoura massacre was a massacre of civilians in the Syria village of al-Ghandoura carried out by the United States Air Force during an offensive by United States backed forces near the city of Manbij in Aleppo Governorate. The massacre was carried out as part of the American-led intervention in Syria. At least 28 civilians, mostly women and including seven children, were killed.

Background

The American-led intervention in Syria has been ongoing since 22 September 2014, after the United States intervened in the Syrian Civil War against the Islamic State. Since May 31, 2016, military operations have been ongoing in the area around the city of Manbij in Aleppo province, as the Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of anti-ISIL militias led by the YPG, attempt to take Manbij from the Islamic State, supported by US airstrikes.

AirWars director Chris Wood, said of civilian casualties prior to the massacre, "Since the siege began it’s our view that at least 190 civilians have been killed by coalition airstrikes, mostly US. We are concerned that the US-led alliance appears to have relaxed some of their rules concerning civilian casualties,".

Since the beginning of the American-led intervention in Syria, independent monitoring group 'Airwars' estimate 1,422 civilians have been killed in airstrikes carried out by the US Air Force, though the overall total could be as high as between 3,181 and 4,267 civilian non-combatant fatalities from 493 separate reported incidents.

Attack

The massacre occurred on Thursday 28 July 2016.

See also

• Tokhar massacre