******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ********************
#1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
#2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.
#3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern.
*****************************************************************
US underestimates civilian death toll in Iraq and Syria by 95 per cent
Publication Date: 2016-06-18 06:58
http://www.orient-news.net/en/news_show/115320/0/US-underestimates-civilian-death-toll-in-Iraq-and-Syria-by
A new report says a U.S.-led coalition is bombing civilians to death and
covering it up.
The United States-led coalition that is bombing Iraq and Syria may be
underreporting the civilian toll of that war by as much as 95 precent,
according to a new report released Friday by the monitoring group
Airwars.
The U.S.-led coalition, which includes nations such as Britain, France
and the Netherlands, has been bombing ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria
since 2014, carrying out more than 13,121 airstrikes, or just over 19 a
day. The vast majority of the strikes are carried out by the U.S.,
according to Airwars—68 percent in Iraq and 82.5 percent in Syria—with
an estimated civilian death toll of at least 1,312 people.
Over the past six months it’s gotten worse, according to Airwars.
“Between December and May, in both Iraq and Syria, there was a marked
increase in the number of alleged casualty incidents and civilian death
attributed to coalition actions,” it says. In Iraq, the group reports
that between 297 and 518 civilians were killed by coalition airstrikes
in this time. In Syria, between 197 and 274 civilians were killed, “a 38
percent increase in likely civilian deaths above the previous six
months.”
The U.S. has admitted to killing just 20 civilians. Its allies have
admitted to none. “If correct, Airwars data suggests the coalition may
be underreporting civilian deaths by more than 95 percent,” the report
says.
The worst incident for civilians occurred on March 19 in the
ISIS-occupied city of Mosul, when at least 25 innocents were killed when
coalition airstrikes hit Mosul University in the middle of the day. As
teleSUR reported at the time, such a strike on a civilian
institution—confirmed by the U.S. Department of Defense—may constitute a
breach of international law.
The U.S. and its coalition allies are not the only foreign governments
reportedly killing civilians in the region. Of 630 alleged incidents
where civilians died in Syria as a result of international airpower, 91
percent have been attributed to Russia, according to Airwars, killing
between 2,792 and 3,451 civilians between December 2015 and May 2016,
largely as the result of airstrikes targeting non-ISIS forces and
civilian areas, “particularly in and around Aleppo.”
The Russian government says its airstrikes have not killed any civilians
since they began in Sept. 2015, TeleSUR reported
_________________________________________________________
Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm
Set your options at:
http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
