The US Central Command said that a 2019 airstrike that killed civilians in Syria was “legitimate,” after a New York Times investigation said the military had concealed the death of dozens of non-combatants.
Syrians stand next to a destroyed building in Balyun in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, on December 8, 2019, the day after a reported Russian airstrike on a market in the village. AFP FILE PHOTO
Drawing from confidential documents, interviews with personnel directly involved and officials with top security clearance, The New York Times found that the strike “was one of the largest civilian casualty incidents of the war against the Islamic State,” albeit never publicly acknowledged by the US military.
It added an investigation was launched after a military report found there had likely been civilian casualties. He said the investigation could not “conclusively characterize the status of more than 60 other casualties,” adding that some women and children, “whether through indoctrination or choice, decided to take up arms in this battle and as such could not strictly be classified as civilians.