US acknowledges more than 80 people killed in 2019 airstrikes on Syria

In a major crime against humanity, a new report in the New York Times revealed American troops conducted one of the largest civilian casualties in Syria in the early month of 2019. According to the media reports, more than 80 people including, women and children were killed in the deadly attack on March 18, 2019. The American daily said the US has neither reported the incident publicly nor accepted the actual figures.

The New York Times, in its report, said that the death toll was revealed by a legal officer. The media report said that the US Central Command (USCENTCOM) - one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the US Department of Defence which is responsible for operations in Syria, has officially recognised the series of strikes against targets near Baghuz.

A statement released by the USCENTCOM on Saturday said at least 16 Daesh fighters and four civilians were among the 80 killed in the incident. "We abhor the loss of innocent life and take all possible measures to prevent them," news agency Sputnik quoted the command's statement. "In this case, we self-reported and investigated the strike according to our own evidence and take full responsibility for the unintended loss of life."However, the department of defence said "it was unclear if the other 60 individuals - all women and children - were also militants."

Top official was asked to keep the details confidential

Further, the media reports revealed that the confidential documents and classified reports mentioned that the US officials knew the approximate casualties but did not disclose the report "intentionally". "Who dropped that?" Sputnik quoted one of the analysts discussing in a secure chat. "We just dropped on 50 women and children," replied another analyst. Notably, the chats were accessed by the NYT and later revealed in its report published on November 13. "

Without warning, an American F-15E attack jet streaked across the drone’s high-definition field of vision and dropped a 500-pound bomb on the crowd, swallowing it in a shuddering blast. As the smoke cleared, a few people stumbled away in search of cover. Then a jet tracking them dropped one 2,000-pound bomb, then another, killing most of the survivors," read the report of the New York Times. Meanwhile, Tate - a former Navy officer who worked for both the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the National Counterterrorism Center said that he was asked to keep his mouth shut in order to save his job.

Image: AP