U.S. and allied commanders are investigating reports that between 30 to 60 civilians were killed during a series of coalition airstrikes against Islamic State targets in eastern Syria.
Eyewitnesses in the eastern Syrian cities of al-Shafa, Gamsha and Haijin around Deir-i-Zour claim U.S. and coalition warplanes bombarded suspected targets affiliated with the terror group known as ISIS, but instead hit a series of civilian areas resulting in mass casualties.
Roughly 15 civilians were reportedly killed by coalition strikes in Haijin, while no less than 20 were claimed dead as a result of American-backed airpower in Gamsha and al-Shafa, Turkish state media reports. Syrian state news claims the civilian death toll in all three areas totaled over 60 killed during the anti-ISIS strikes.
“These are unsubstantiated at this stage. We will investigate them, as we investigate every allegation of civilian casualties,” British Maj. Gen. Christopher Ghika, deputy commander for strategy and information for the U.S.-led coalition, told reporters at the Pentagon.
When asked whether coalition officials had been able to reach a verifiable number of civilians killed during this most recent round of strikes, Gen. Ghika replied: “We’re researching that at the moment.”
His comments come as the overall number of U.S. and coalition airstrikes against ISIS have tapered off after the fall of Raqqa and Mosul, ISIS’s de facto capitals in Syria and northern Iraq respectively. The majority of the fighting has focused on the terror group’s final redoubts in Deir-i-Zour. Between 1,500 and 2,000 ISIS fighters remain in the group’s last territorial bastion in eastern Syria.
American and coalition commanders, however, have been continually plagued by allegations of wanton disregard for civilian casualties related to the anti-ISIS air war in Iraq and Syria. A report issued in August by human rights group Amnesty International claimed the civilian death toll tied to the American-led air war against ISIS in Syria could reach into the “high hundreds.”
“This is only the tip of the iceberg,” Donatella Rovera, senior crisis response adviser at Amnesty International, said in a statement accompanying the August report. On Tuesday, Gen. Ghika reemphasized the focus coalition commanders put on preventing civilian casualties in all operations.
“I think it’s important … to make really clear that we conduct all our strikes with considerable care for each and every strike to minimize civilian casualties at every turn. And where there are allegations, we investigate them very thoroughly,” he told reporters during a teleconference from coalition headquarters in Baghdad.
Gen. Ghika also reiterated that claims of civilian casualties are often inflated in order to be used as a recruiting ploy by ISIS or to bolster anti-U.S. propaganda put out by the terror organization.
“We have to be particularly aware of people who put stories like this into the information space, knowing that they’re not true,” he said.
• Carlo Muñoz can be reached at cmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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