US Fight Against ISIS Has Killed Hundreds Of Civilians Since 2014

The total official civilian death toll in Iraq and Syria rose to 786 after the U.S.-led coalition battling the terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS) confirmed Thursday another 51 “unintentional civilian deaths” caused by airstrikes. However, since there are more reports of civilian deaths to be reviewed, the final number is expected to rise.

“Despite significant successes against ISIS, combat has taken a toll on populations suffering under the militant extremists, to include the brave Iraqis and Syrians engaged in direct combat with a terrorist organization that has killed countless innocent civilians during its brutal three-year occupation,” Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), as the coalition is officially called, said in a statement.

Out of the 127 reports regarding civilian deaths, analyzed in September, the task force found 16 of them “credible,” which meant it was “more likely than not a Coalition strike resulted in a civilian casualty.” Among the remaining 111 reports, six were duplicates of previous reports and another 105 were deemed “non-credible,” citing “insufficient information.”

Investigations into another 302 files, which were submitted to the coalition’s office in the same month, are going on. This is in addition to the 512 open cases of civilian deaths the task force is yet to vet — files which have accumulated over a span of 3 years. Since the coalition was formed in 2014, it has conducted 27,566 strikes out of which 2.26 percent of the attacks resulted in 786 confirmed civilian deaths.

During this time, 1,266 reports of possible civilian casualties were submitted to the task force for review and till now, only 194 or 15 percent have been declared credible.

The task force has assured via its statement the process of vetting civilian death reports is a thorough process: “The Coalition and our partner forces in Iraq and Syria take extraordinary care to protect the civilian population. We take all reports of civilian casualties seriously and assess all reports as thoroughly as possible. Investigations include interviewing witnesses and examining the site where possible, interviewing pilots and other personnel involved in the targeting process, reviewing strike and surveillance video, and analyzing information provided by government agencies, non-governmental reports, partner forces, and traditional and social media.”

The official number put forward by the task force does not come close to the tally of Airwars, a U.K.-based nonprofit group, which documents reports of civilian deaths in Iraq and Syria. As per their records, at least 5,637 to 8,636 civilians have been killed as a result of the coalition’s efforts to eradicate ISIS, RT reported.

At the same time, U.K.’s Ministry of Defence has maintained there is “no evidence” any civilians were killed in at least 3,482 bombs and missiles the Royal Air Force dropped in Iraq and Syria, according to British news outlet, i News.

“Given the sheer scale of the U.K.’s attacks, [Defence Secretary] Michael Fallon’s repeated claims that the UK has no information about civilian casualties frankly stretches credulity to breaking point,” Kate Allen, Amnesty International U.K.’s director said, responding to the government's claims.