Civilian deaths from US-led strikes on Isis surge under Trump administration

[Judi Lynn]

Nearly 60% of civilian deaths from the three-year military campaign have been reported this year – but human rights groups say true figure is far higher
Julian Borger in Washington
Tuesday 6 June 2017 14.24 EDT


Civilian casualties have increased sharply in the US-led military campaign against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, with nearly 60% of the officially acknowledged deaths from the three-year war being reported in the first three months of the Trump administration.

US Central Command (Centcom) admitted to 484 civilian deaths up to the end of April as a result of coalition strikes as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, which began in August 2014. That compares with a cumulative total of 199 announced at the beginning of February.

The tallies are limited to those incidents that the US military has been able to investigate and confirm. The true death toll is likely to be much higher, as the battle to wrest control of densely populated west Mosul in Iraq from Isis continues, and the battle gets started for the Isis stronghold in Syria, in Raqqa.

Airwars, a UK-based watchdog group, estimates the civilian death toll from coalition airstrikes at over 3,800.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/06/us-syria-iraq-isis-islamic-state-strikes-death-toll