As ISIS-held Raqqa is bombed into ruins by US forces, rebel-held Idlib is suffering the same fate under Russian and Assad regime warplanes. Civilian casualties are fast mounting in both enclaves. The twin aerial campaigns come just as Trump has cut off aid to the Free Syrian Army, indicating that the long-anticipated imperial carve-up of Syria is now well underway.
Among international volunteer brigades drawn by the anarchist-influenced politics of the Rojava Kurds is now the first explicitly LGBT military unit in the Syrian warâthe Queer Insurrection and Liberation Army (TQILA). But these international brigades are attached to the Kurdish militia force being backed by the Pentagon to take Raqqa from ISIS. Mounting civilian casualties of US air-strikes on Raqqa, as well as charges of abuses by the advancing Kurdish forces, raise grim questions about northern Syria’s future after the eventual defeat of ISIS.
Civilian casualties from the US-led war against ISIS are set to double under President Trump, according to the AirWars website that has been monitoring the toll of the conflict. At least 2,300 civilians were killed in Coalition strikes overseen by the Obama White House in Iraq and Syria. As of July, more than 2,200 additional civilians appear to have been killed in Coalition raids since Trump was inaugurated.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan released a report condemning an increase in civilian deaths in Afghanistan during the first half of 2017. “Anti-government forces” are held responsible for 67% of civilian casualties, compared to 18% attributed to “pro-government forces,” and the remainder to cross-fire and other actors. The report notes that an increase in aerial operations by pro-government forces led to a jump in women and child casualties as well.
London's High Court of Justice ruled that the UK can continue to export arms to Saudi Arabia, rejecting a case asserting that the weapons have been used in the commission of war crimes in Yemen. A substantial portion of the court's reasoning is contained in a "closed judgment" document only available to the government's legal team and a security-cleared "special advocate" for the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).
A new report by Amnesty International charges that ISIS used trapped inhabitants as "human shields" in Mosul, and that the US-led coalition "failed to take adequate measures to protect civilians." The report urged that "the disregard for human life by all parties to this conflict must not go unpunished. Entire families have been wiped out, many of whom are still buried under the rubble today."
ISIS and the United States exchanged accusations over destruction of Mosul's historic Grand al-Nuri Mosque—another blow to the city's heritage, coming during the holiest days of Ramadan.
Several civilians were killed when US air-strikes reportedly targeted ISIS-held Raqqa with white phosphorus—banned by the Geneva Convention as a weapon of war.
Over the past month, air-strikes carried out by the US and its coalition partners in Syria have killed the highest number of civilians on record since the bombing campaign began.
The UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion stated that Houthi de facto authorities in Yemen must end their campaign of harassment against the Bahá'í community.
The UN Special Rapporteur on protection of human rights while countering terrorism said that Saudi Arabia's sweeping anti-terror laws pose a threat to fundamental freedoms.
US air-strikes killed more Arab civilians in ISIS-held territory, escalating tensions as US-backed Kurdish forces advance on Raqqa, the Arab-majority ISIS capital.
