Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin orders inquiry into 2019 US bombings in Syria that killed 80

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin recently ordered a review into a deadly American airstrike that killed dozens of civilians in Syria in 2019, the New York Times reported. On Monday, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby announced the investigation, saying that it would be led by General Michael Garrett, the head of US Army Forces Command.

He also said that Garrett will now have 90 days to review the handling of previous inquiries into the incident and further probe other reports of civilian casualties, possible violations of laws of war, accountability issues and record-keeping errors.

This comes after the US military earlier this month acknowledged that civilians may have been killed in the bombings in Baghouz, near the Iraqi border in 2019. Back then, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were leading the fight on the ground with American air support. It was reported that the attack, which was called in by Task Force 9 - a secret US special operations unit responsible for ground operations in Syria, had killed around 80 people.

On Monday, Kirby said that the review would look into 'record-keeping and reporting procedures' and whether mitigation measures identified in previous investigations into the incident were in fact implemented effectively. He added that the investigation will also assess whether “accountability measures” will be appropriate. It is pertinent to mention that a probe into the incident never occurred, and mentions of it were removed from a recent Defence Department on the civilian casualties reporting process. 

Syrian bombings

The US-led coalition started a bombing campaign against the ISIL (ISIS) group in Syria and Iraq in 2014. The American military maintains troops in both countries, with the stated goal of preventing the group’s resurgence. Previously, it was revealed that the coalition had killed around 1,600 civilians in Raqqa, the ISIS group’s former de-facto capital. 

According to AP, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin had received a briefing on the Syria bombings from General Frank McKenzie, the head of US Central Command.

According to McKenzie, an initial investigation concluded that the strike constituted legitimate self-defence in support of Syrian partner forces under fire from ISIL. An internal review by the Pentagon further also stated that the bombings did not violate the laws of war or amount to criminal conduct or negligence, and this prompted outrage. 

(Image: AP)