US-led coalition kills 1300 civilians “unintentionally” in Iraq and Syria
Representational photo.
(IraqiNews) The US-led international coalition announced killing over 1300 civilians unintentionally by air strikes in Iraq and Syria, since starting its operations against the Islamic State in 2014.
The coalition said in a statement that it carried out 34502 air strikes between August 2014 and end of April 2019.
During this period and based on the available information, it is likely that at least 1,302 civilians were unintentionally killed as a result of coalition air strikes, the statement added.
It further explained that there are still 111 reports of civilian deaths being considered.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that more than 3,800 civilians, including about 1,000 children, have been killed in raids by the international coalition in Syria only. However, the international coalition affirmed taking the necessary measures to reduce the risk to the lives of civilians.
The Amnesty International welcomed all admissions of responsibility by the US-led Coalition for civilian casualties; however, it said the coalition remains deeply in denial about the devastating scale of the civilian casualties caused by their operations in both Iraq and Syria.
Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Adviser Donatella Rovera said, “The coalition has so far failed to carry out investigations on the ground or provide reasons for the civilian casualties. Without a clear examination of what went wrong in each case lessons can never be learned.”
The US-led international coalition, which include more than 70 countries, started its mission against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014.
In Iraq, the coalition provided air coverage to government forces, while backed the Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria.
On 23 March, the Syrian Democratic Forces announced the elimination of the so-called caliphate of the Islamic State group, following the liberation of the town of Baguoz, the last enclave of the group, east of the country.
It is noteworthy that the International coalition, in a statement on Friday evening, referred to seven reports about the killing of civilians in raids on Baguoz between 11 and 24 March. The statement described the reports as “unreliable”.