Defense

US military: At least 1,100 civilians killed by coalition since start of ISIS war

Getty Images

More than 1,100 civilians have been killed by the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) since 2014, according to the U.S. military’s latest monthly casualty report.

The coalition reviewed 60 reports of civilian casualties in the September report and found eight to be credible. That brings the total number of civilians the coalition has admitted to killing to 1,114.

“We continue to employ thorough and deliberate targeting and strike processes to minimize the impact of our operations on civilian populations and infrastructure,” the report said.

{mosads}“In each of eight incidents, the investigation assessed that although all feasible precautions were taken and the decision to strike complied with the law of armed conflict, unintended civilian casualties regrettably occurred.”

Critics accuse the U.S. military of severely under-countering the number of civilians killed by the coalition.

For example, prominent monitor Airwars says that at least 6,575 have been killed.

The coalition stressed in the latest report that it is willing to reconsider those allegations if new evidence comes forward.

“As we have demonstrated, we are willing to consider new civilian casualty allegations as well as new or compelling evidence on past allegations to establish accountability based on the best available evidence,” the report said.

In the biggest casualty incident in September’s report, the military said 20 civilians were killed May 16, 2017, near the al-Zangili neighborhood in Mosul, Iraq, during a strike on ISIS fighting positions, a car bomb facility and a command and control center. The report came to the military via Airwars.

Airwars had previously classified that incident as contested, saying on Twitter that the new report shows “the accountability value that proper [coalition] assessments can bring.”

The other credible reports in the September report are:

— On Aug. 13, 2016, near Qayyarah, Iraq, six civilians were killed during a strike on ISIS headquarters and fighting positions.

— On Jan. 13, 2017, near the al-Arabi neighborhood in Mosul, three civilians were killed during a strike on ISIS fighting positions and an ISIS headquarters building.

— On Feb. 23, 2017, near Mosul, five civilians were killed during a strike on ISIS fighting positions, car bomb facilities and an explosive factory.

— On March 22, 2017, near al-Thani, Tabaqa, Syria, seven civilians were killed during a strike on an ISIS fighting position.

— On June 29, 2017, near Bab Lakash, Mosul, Iraq, six civilians were killed during a strike on ISIS fighting positions.

— On Aug. 1, 2017, near Qadiya, Iraq, two civilians were killed and two injured during a strike.

— On May 23, 2018, near Hajin, Syria, four civilians were killed during a strike.

The military also found 50 reports to be non-credible and two to be duplicates of other reports. There are 310 reports of civilian casualties that remain open, it noted.

Tags
See all Hill.TV See all Video

Most Popular

Load more

Video

See all Video