{"id":10215,"date":"2016-10-26T06:04:39","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T06:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/?p=10215"},"modified":"2016-10-26T11:09:40","modified_gmt":"2016-10-26T11:09:40","slug":"amnesty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/amnesty\/","title":{"rendered":"Coalition majorly undercounting civilians killed by its strikes, says Amnesty"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US-led Coalition targeting so-called Islamic State has substantially underestimated the civilian toll of its airstrikes<\/span>, according to analysis released by Amnesty International<\/a><\/span>. The detailed report alleges that <\/span>certain attacks may have violated international humanitarian law.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to senior Amnesty Syria researcher Neil Sammonds, who authored the study, “the US military’s civilian casualty assessment system is clearly pretty close to being unfit for purpose at present, and needs an overhaul.”<\/p>\n

Sammonds and his colleagues focused on just 11 incidents – all in Syria – and identified what they says is “compelling evidence” that <\/span>300 civilians were likely killed in reported Coalition airstrikes. The detailed case studies were submitted <\/span>in late September <\/span>to the Department of Defense, which has yet to officially respond. T<\/span>he alliance itself has admitted to just one non-combatant fatality from the events.<\/span><\/p>\n

‘Residential neighbourhood’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amnesty\u2019s six-month investigation – which draws on open source data, satellite imagery, personal accounts, and existing monitoring by groups including the Syrian Network for Human Rights<\/a><\/span> and Airwars – is one of the most extensive reviews of civilian casualties tied to the Coalition.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first strike investigated took place over two years ago, at Kafr Daryan in Idlib governorate on September 23rd 2014 – the opening night of Coalition bombings in Syria. That attack was also the first that Syrian monitoring groups were able to review. Accounts compiled by several, including the Violations Documentation Center<\/a><\/span> and the Syrian Network for Human Rights arrived at a toll of at least 13 civilians killed, including five women and five children. <\/span><\/p>\n

Amnesty’s own assessment<\/a> <\/span>says photographic and video evidence for Kafr Daryan indicates a residential area was indeed hit: “The strike location appears to be in a residential neighbourhood, approximately 100m from a mosque, as confirmed by satellite imagery from 30 September 2014 (one week after the attack) obtained by Amnesty International. Several buildings intact in satellite imagery from August 2014 are either completely or partially destroyed in the imagery from 30 September.”<\/p>\n

Though US Central Command (CENTCOM) has confirmed cruise missile strikes in the vicinity that night, it continues to insist that it is not in possession of \u201ccredible operational reporting through operational channels that would sustain those allegations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Amnesty is now calling for the Kafr Daryan case to be re-opened, noting that “At the very least, the presence of large numbers of civilians in the vicinity and the recorded civilian casualties and damage suggest that necessary precautions to minimize harm to civilians may not have been taken.”<\/p>\n