US military ‘downplayed’ air strikes that killed scores of Syrian civilians

A scathing report published by the New York Times has revealed that the US military covered up
2019 airstrikes in Syria that killed up to 64 women and
children during the battle against Daesh.

The two back-to-back airstrikes saw two US fighter jets drop a 227 kg bomb on a crowd, followed by another 907 kg bomb on the same target near the town of Baghuz. 

The strikes were ordered by a classified American special operations unit tasked with ground operations in Syria, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

US Central Command, which oversaw US air operations in Syria, acknowledged the strikes for the first time this week and said they were justified, according to the Times investigation.

Central Command also reiterated the account that 80 people were killed in the strikes including 16 Daesh terrorists and four civilians.

The military said it was unclear if the other 60 people were
civilians, partly because women and children could have been
combatants. In Saturday’s statement, the military said the strikes were
“legitimate self-defense,” proportional and that “appropriate
steps were taken to rule out the presence of civilians.”

READ MORE: What does CENTCOM gain by helping Russia in Syria?

Possible war crimes

An Air Force lawyer present in the US operations centre at the time believed the strikes were possible war crimes and later alerted the Defense Department’s inspector general and Senate Armed Services Committee when no action was taken, the Times said.

“We abhor the loss of innocent life and take all possible
measures to prevent them. In this case, we self-reported and
investigated the strike according to our own evidence and take
full responsibility for the unintended loss of life,” Central
Command said.

The number of civilians among the 60 fatalities could not be
determined because “multiple armed women and at least one armed
child were observed” in a video of the events, it said,  before adding
that the majority of the 60 were likely combatants.

Central Command said the strikes took place while Syrian
Democratic Forces (SDF) were under heavy fire and in danger of
being overrun, and the SDF had reported the area clear of
civilians.

The Defense Department’s inspector general launched an inquiry into the March 18, 2019, incident, but its report was ultimately “stripped” of any mention of the bombing and a thorough, independent probe never took place, according to the Times. 

The newspaper said its report was based on confidential
documents and descriptions of classified reports, as well as
interviews with directly-involved personnel.

READ MORE: Manufacturing chaos: Russia’s escalation against Turkey’s ally in Syria