The U.S. Investigates Potential Civilian Casualties from Coalition Airstrikes

On January 6, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that its military is investigating certain airstrikes conducted by the coalition led by the U.S. against Islamists in Syria and Iraq, which may have resulted in civilian casualties. This is the first time the U.S. has directly acknowledged the possibility of civilian deaths resulting from coalition airstrikes, which have primarily targeted the 'Islamic State' in Syria and specifically against that group in Iraq. A U.S. Defense official told Agence France-Presse that the 'Central Command' of the U.S., which oversees operations in areas such as West and Central Asia, has conducted initial reviews of 18 airstrikes. In this preliminary review, 13 cases were deemed not credible, while 5 others require further investigation. Meanwhile, two comprehensive investigations—one in Iraq and one in Syria—have officially begun. Reuters quoted Sheryl Lary, a spokesperson for 'Central Command,' stating that among the initial reports being investigated or under more precise scrutiny, 9 cases pertain to Iraq and the same number to Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in London, is among the groups that have published statistics on civilian casualties alongside those of militants in the country. In its latest report on December 23, the organization noted '52 civilians' among 1,171 people killed during coalition airstrikes. The number of civilian casualties in the previous month's report was the same. Nevertheless, Ms. Lary stated that the two cases under official investigation are not related to reports outside the military and are inquiries initiated within the Department of Defense itself. According to statistics released by Monday, the United States has conducted a total of 1,350 airstrikes, with 687 in Iraq and 663 in Syria. The U.S. Defense spokesperson stated that U.S. allies have conducted a total of 309 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.