‘Yeah right’: Skepticism follows Pentagon report that it only killed 12 civilians in 2021

RockedBuzz
By RockedBuzz 2 Min Read

News,
‘Yeah right’: Skepticism follows Pentagon report that it only killed 12 civilians in 2021
: detailed suggestions and opinions about
‘Yeah right’: Skepticism follows Pentagon report that it only killed 12 civilians in 2021
.

An annual report published Tuesday by the Pentagon claiming that the U.S. military only killed 12 noncombatants last year was met with skepticism by civilian casualty monitors, who perennially accuse the United States of undercounting the people killed by its bombs and bullets.

The U.S. Department of Defense “assesses that there were approximately 12 civilians killed and approximately five civilians injured during 2021 as a result of U.S. military operations,” the report—the fifth of its kind—states.

However, the U.K.-based monitor group Airwars counted between 12 and 25 civilians likely killed by U.S. forces, sometimes working with coalition allies, in Syria alone last year, with another two to four people killed in Somalia and one to four killed in Yemen.

“Once again the confirmed civilian casualty count is below what communities on the ground are reporting,” Airwars director Emily Tripp told Al Jazeera.

Airwars does not count civilians killed or wounded in Afghanistan, where all of the 2021 casualties acknowledged by the Pentagon occurred. These incidents include an errant August 29 drone strike that killed 10 people—most of them members of one family—including seven children.

Story continues

Share This Article
Leave a comment