A team from the FBI arrives in Manbij to investigate the first bombing of its kind that killed members of the Coalition with 15 of their escorts and civilians
Aleppo province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights obtained information from private sources who confirmed that investigations are underway at a high level in the case of the Manbij city bombing, which took place at noon on Wednesday the 16th of January 2018, and in the details obtained by the Syrian Observatory: a team from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI arrived in Manbij city during the past hours, and began to investigate the bombing of the al-Omaraa restaurant in the middle of the city, which is controlled by forces of Manbij Military Council and the International Coalition forces, in which the suicide bomber blew himself up in the restaurant and killed 4 members of the International Coalition two of them died in the Syrian territory, and 5 of their escorts of the local fighters and 10 civilians from Manbij were also killed, and the death toll is expected to rise because there are some people in critical situation.
The Syrian Observatory published this morning that cautious calm has returned to Manbij city in the northeastern sector of Aleppo countryside, which is controlled by forces of Manbij military Council and where the US Forces and the International Coalition are preset, where the calm came in the wake of the bombing that hit the city on Wednesday afternoon, the 16th of January 2019, where it hit al-Omaraa restaurant in the middle of the city and targeted an International Coalition patrol, which killed 4 members of the patrol and 5 of their escorts of fighters of the local forces, in addition to the death of 10 civilian citizens who were present in the same place, the explosion also caused several injuries, and the city witnessed after the bombing a state of security alert and tension and alert in anticipation of other similar attacks that may cause more casualties, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that the intelligence of the Manbij Military Council arrested 7 people who formed a secret cell to carry out bombings and assassinations in Manbij area, intersected sources confirmed that members of the cell confessed to “working under the direction of the factions operating in Euphrates Shield Operation and the Turkish intelligence,” they also seized weapons and military equipment in one of the houses in which they were located, the sources also confirmed to the Syrian Observatory that the seven people cell were arrested earlier.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published yesterday that the number of casualties in Manbij city continues to rise due to the suicide bombing that hit al-Omaraa restaurant in the city, on Wednesday afternoon the 16th of January 2019, which is considered the first targeting of its kind against Coalition forces since their participation in the Syrian events in September 2014, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored the death of more people, raising to at least 19, the number of people who died today, they are 4 members of the International Coalition forces 2 of them were killed in Syria and the other 2 were killed when they were transferred to receive treatment, 5 members of their escorts of local fighters of the forces controlling the area, and 10 civilians, and the death toll is expected to rise because some people are in critical situation, also the Syrian Observatory monitored the helicopters flying over Manbij area, after the bombing that hit the city, which is the first of its kind, where it targeted the International Coalition by a suicide bomber, also the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored a helicopter landing in Manbij to transfer of the bodies and transfer the injured persons to hospitals within the east of Euphrates area, while the Syrian Observatory monitored the US Forces surrounding the place of bombing in conjunction with the flight of helicopters over Manbij city, and the Syrian Observatory published on the 12th of January 2018 that a violent explosion rocked Manbij city that is under the control of Manbij Military Council, it turned out that it was caused by an explosion in a vehicle of the Internal Security Forces affiliated to the security of the city’s checkpoints, where the reliable sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory that the explosion, that took place near the city’s cemetery, resulted in killing 2 members of the Internal Security Forces, as well as the injury of others, and this explosion was coincided with a crowd of the “casualties’ families” in Manbij, in order to condemn the Turkish threat of implementing a military operation in the area and to call on the International Community to establish a no-fly zone in the Syrian North, amid calls on the International Community to move and prevent the scenario of Afrin from being repeated in Manbij, and this explosion comes about 4 days after an explosion in Manbij area, within the north-eastern sector of Aleppo countryside, in the controlled areas of the forces of Manbij Military Council and Jaysh al-Thowwar, it was caused by the explosion of an IED planted by unidentified gunmen in an area within an olive field east of Manbij city, which injured a person, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published on the 26th of December 2018, that it monitored a violent explosion in Manbij city, in the northeastern sector of Aleppo countryside, intersected sources confirmed that it was caused by an explosive device planted in a car in the city, which is controlled by forces of Manbij Military Council and the US forces are present there, which caused material damage and injured a person seriously injured, where this is the first explosion that hits the area after the US decision to withdraw.