US military probe concludes civilian deaths in Iraq strike

Four civilians, including possibly a child, were “likely” killed in a USA airstrike against an Islamic State (IS) group checkpoint in Iraq in March, the U.S. military said on Friday in only its second acknowledgement of possible non-combatant casualties caused by the coalition air campaign in Iraq and Syria.

The airstrikes, conducted by a U.S. A-10, targeted a manned Islamic State checkpoint, according to the executive summary of the Central Command report.

One of the four civilian deaths might have been a child, Central Command said, but it lacked the forensic evidence to determine the victim’s gender or age. The target was “thoroughly reviewed and validated”, according to a press release.

The four were in addition to the drivers of the two vehicles, who had gotten out and spoke with IS checkpoint personnel for about 40 minutes.

Aircrews passed the information to the Central Command’s operations center, known as the Combined Air Operations Center, and operations staff there determined that it was still a lawful target.

MSF says its personnel at the hospital contacted USA and Afghan forces to call off the attack, but the assault continued anyway.

However, video footage showed that four additional personnel, whose statuses were unknown, also excited the two vehicles after the aircrews had released their weapons.

U.S. Air Forces Central Command began investigating the March 13 air strike by an A-10 tank-killer jet near al Hatra, Iraq, on April 20 after an Iraqi citizen reported that her vehicle had been destroyed and its passengers killed. “Our goal is to defeat Daesh, a terrorist organization that continuously wraps itself around the population, and we do everything we can to prevent unintended deaths or injuries to non-combatants”, he said.

There are 26 different coalition incidents under review that could have resulted in civilian deaths, Ryder said.

Several other allegations of civilian casualties linked to U.S. air strikes in Iraq and Syria are under investigation.

In August, a report claimed at least 459 civilians had been killed in USA airstrikes, including 100 children – figures that were disputed by the U.S. military.