Near Dayr Az Zawr and Mar’a, two strikes hit two Islamic State tactical units, two vehicles, two tanks and a rocket system.
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A monster U.S. military aircraft capable of delivering devastating nuclear strikes has dropped its first bombs on Islamic State.
Despite the increase in the rate of civilian casualties in the latest four-month assessment, USA military officials insist the overall number of civilian casualties is “low”.
Colonel Patrick Ryder, a spokesperson for Central Command, said the casualties were “deeply regretted” but maintained that the campaign was the “the most precise air campaign in the history of warfare”.
In October and November, strikes in and around Hawija, Iraq, killed eight civilians when the US-led coalition mortared a structure, and another two were killed when an Isis vehicle pulled near a building after a weapon was sacked at the vehicle.
Finally, on February 2, a strike in Al Ghazili, Syria, against an ISIS vehicle killed one civilian after the person drove into the target area after the weapon were in flight.
Airwars considers the cause of about 300 of the civilian deaths to be “contested”, meaning there are claims of airstrikes from multiple nations or that forces under the command of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or the Iraqi government may have been responsible for the strikes.
The Pentagon has delegated more authority to US Army Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland, head of the US-led coalition against Daesh (ISIL) in Iraq and Syria, to approve targets when civilians could be killed. Six of the strikes were in Iraq and three were in Syria.
“We take extraordinary precautions to avoid civilian casualties, applying rigorous standards in our targeting process…”
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“These are tough decisions the commanders have to make”, Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Steve Warren told reporters earlier this year when asked about a separate strike on an Islamic State cash depot on January 18, 2016. For close air support, B-52s rely on targeting coordinates generated from latitude and longitude, while most aircraft used in support of ground operations locate their targets with grid coordinates. He added, “In this type of armed conflict, particularly with an enemy who hides among the civilian population, there are going to be, unfortunately, civilian casualties at times”.
