US Military Reports 484 Civilians Have Been Killed In US-Led Attacks Against ISIL

On Friday, June 2nd, the US military reported that 484 civilian deaths had resulted from coalition attacks on ISIS group targets in Syria and Iraq since mid-2014. In its statement on Friday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) added another 132 civilian deaths to its April report. The dramatic spike resulted from a single strike on March 17th when the bombing in Mosul, aimed at killing two ISIS snipers, caused a building to collapse. However, external watchdogs and non-government organisations put the civilian death toll much higher. Airwars, a journalist collective based in London that compiles data from public sources, estimated more that 3,800 non-combatants were killed since the operations began in August 2014.

In an attempt to justify the rapidly increasing fatality rate, US Defence Secretary James Mattis said, “civilian causalities are a fact of life in this sort of situation,” adding that the the coalition was doing “everything humanly possible consistent with military necessity” to “avoid civilian casualties at all costs.” CENTCOM insisted it “takes extraordinary efforts to strike military targets in a manner that minimises the risk of civilian casualties,” but simultaneously claims that “in some incidents casualties are unavoidable.” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said in a statement two weeks ago that the “rising toll of civilian deaths and injuries … suggests that insufficient precautions may have been taken in the attacks.” He added that “just because ISIL holds an area does not mean less care can be taken. Civilians should always be protected, whether they are in areas controlled by ISIL or by any other party.” Mr. Ra’ad al-Hussein further condemned ISIL for using civilians as human shields, but urged all states operating air forces in the Syrian civil way, including the US, UK, Russia and Syria, to distinguish between legitimate military targets and civilians as required under international law.

The devastating effects of the violent battle are becoming increasingly visible through the rapidly increasing fatality rate of civilians. Countries must seek to employ methods of non-violence and peaceful solutions rather than rely on violent methods where civilian casualties are unavoidable.

As the battle to recapture the last stronghold of ISIL in Iraq enters its eighth month, the number of men, women and children killed in the campaign has rocketed since the start of the Mosul offensive. Densely populated residential districts are pummelled by air strikes and artillery, in a move to take the remaining pockets of territory held by ISIL in Mosul. Iraqi government forces, backed by US advisers, artillery, and air support, have cleared the east and most of western Mosul and are now focused on controlling the Old City, with Iraqi civilians paying a heavy price.

The unjust disregard towards the value of civilian lives has resulted in an apparent dystopia, whereby civilians live in a state of constant fear and agitation. The US military’s underrepresentation of civilian deaths does not begin to show the true extent of the horrors of the airstrikes. Civilian homes are often destroyed, families are separated and society is disrupted to its core due to these attacks. The time to engage in peaceful solutions to resolve conflict is ever present.

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