The Pentagon estimates that more people died in Afghanistan, as it acknowledges that civilians died years ago.
The U.S. military has admitted responsibility for the sudden killing of 23 civilians in 2020 foreign war zones, down slightly from the number of non-governmental organizations listed. But it also acknowledged the deaths of ordinary people years ago.
The figures include civilian casualties in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen and Nigeria, according to a Pentagon report.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) “estimates that there were at least 23 civilians killed and at least 10 civilians injured in the 2020 U.S. military,” the document reads, part of an annual report sought by Congress from 2018 in spite of certain secrecy. .
Most of the victims were in Afghanistan, which the Pentagon claimed was responsible for the deaths of 20 people, according to the report.
One was killed in Somalia in February 2020 and the other in Iraq in March. The document issued to the public does not say when or where the 23rd victim was killed.
The document states that although Congress provided $ 3m to the Pentagon in 2020 to reimburse families affected by ordinary people, there is no such tax compensation.
Maximum number of NGOs
Non-governmental organizations publish frequently the highest mortality rate for the general public in areas where US troops are operating around the world.
The NGO Airwars, which cites people who have been victimized by the air, says their careful observations show that 102 civilians have been killed in US operations around the world – five times more than the Pentagon.
The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has reported 89 deaths and 31 injuries while working with US security forces, Airwars said.
In Somalia, where the Pentagon recognizes the death of one person, Airwars and other NGOs estimate that seven people have died, while in Syria and Iraq, six people have been reported dead, the NGO said.
“It is clear that the Ministry of Defense’s investigation into the casualties is not enough,” said Hina Shamsi and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
“It is surprising that in 2020, the Ministry of Defense did not provide funding to individuals and families even though the funds were available to Congress,” said Shamsi, who oversees the ACLU National Security Project.
The report also acknowledged that 12 other incidents in 2017 and 2018, which left 50 civilians dead and 22 others injured, “have not been reported indiscriminately in the past.”
A plane crash in al-Zira in Iraq on January 6, 2017 left 16 people dead, and another in Mosul on January 12, 2017 that killed 12 people.
On August 13, 2017, 12 others were killed and six others injured in a plane crash in Raqqa, Syria. At the time, the US and its allies were fighting ISIL (ISIS).
Of the 50 people who did not die, the Pentagon also said 12 civilians were killed in al-Bayda in Yemen on January 29, 2017.
“Over the past few years, the DoD has continued to make improvements by investigating reports of deaths.”
