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US: 352 civilians accidently killed in Syria, Iraq

May 2, 2017 at 4:08 pm

Smoke rises after a bombing attack in Iraq, 10 October 2016 [Alex Kühn/Anadolu Agency]

The US army announced on Sunday that the international coalition’s air force had killed at least 352 civilians in airstrikes against Daesh militants in Iraq and Syria since 2014.

The US Joint Task Force said in a statement that it is still assessing 42 reports of civilian deaths between November 2016 and March 2017.

Of those killed, the death of 80 civilians had not been previously announced.

Read: Baghdad says US promised continuing support for Iraq against Daesh

The report included 26 deaths in three separate strikes in March.

During the period from August 2014 to March 2017, the International Coalition launched more than 20,000 air raids.

The army’s official figures are much lower than those reported by other groups. A human rights group said more than 3,000 civilians were killed in coalition airstrikes.

We regret the unintentional loss of civilian lives … and express our sincere sympathy to families and other people affected by the strikes.

the Pentagon said in a statement.

The United States has been leading a coalition of more than 60 countries launching airstrikes against Daesh targets in Iraq and Syria, as well as providing training and advice to allied local forces.