The Pentagon acknowledged on Friday that 20 civilians were killed in US airstrikes on ISIS targets over a five-month period, more than doubling an ongoing tally of such deaths to 41.
The Pentagon acknowledged on Friday that 20 civilians were killed in US airstrikes on ISIS targets over a five-month period, more than doubling an ongoing tally of such deaths to 41.
Observers were quick to dismiss the toll as “unbelievable,” warning the toll is likely much higher given the intensity of the 20-month-old air campaign that has unleashed 12,000 plane and drone strikes — often in urban areas.
The latest figures from US Central Command are based on investigations into nine strikes in Iraq and Syria between September 10 and February 2, including one in Atshanah, Iraq that killed eight civilians and another in the Iraqi city of Ramadi that killed five.
Centcom spokesman Colonel Pat Ryder said the United States regretted the loss of life, but said the ISIS group bore responsibility. “In this type of armed conflict, particularly with an enemy who hides among the civilian population, there are going to be, unfortunately, civilian casualties at times,” Col. Ryder said. “We do everything we can to avoid it, but that’s just the nature of the enemy we are dealing with.”
In addition, a total of 28 civilians have been injured in the campaign, the Pentagon claims.
“Airwars”, a London-based collective of journalists and researchers, uses local sources, photographs and media accounts to keep a detailed list of every known coalition airstrike.
They praised Pentagon efforts at accountability compared to other players in Syria such as Russia and the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, but the group said the number of likely civilian deaths from coalition strikes is 1,118 at a bare minimum.
“We certainly welcome this latest US admission — we think that is a positive step — but even so, 41 civilian deaths from almost 12,000 air strikes is frankly unbelievable,” Airwars director Chris Woods said. “This is a very intense air campaign. You don’t get to drop 500-pound bombs on urban areas and not kill civilians.”
The US has led an international coalition that since August 2014 has targeted ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria.
The latest announcement comes just days after the Pentagon acknowledged that, it has changed since late 2015 how airstrikes risking civilian deaths are approved.
Under the new rules, authority now comes from the commanding three-star US general in Baghdad, instead of going through a four-star at Centcom’s Florida headquarters.
