US says up to 116 civilians killed by its airstrikes

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON

Between 64 and 116 civilians have been killed in 473 U.S. airstrikes from 2009-2015, the U.S. estimated Friday.

During that time, between 2,372 and 2,581 militants were killed, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) said in its first public assessment.

The non-combatant toll took into account “credible reports of non-combatant deaths”, including accounts from the media and NGO’s.

In a reversal of administration policy, the report changed the definition of non-combatants to include males of military age that are not involved in but are proximate to militants when they are targeted.

“Males of military age may be non-combatants; it is not the case that all military-aged males in the vicinity of a target are deemed to be combatants,” it said.

Previous reporting on the administration’s hitherto shrouded understanding of the matter indicated that military-age males near a terror target could be considered legitimate targets.

U.S. strikes in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria are not taken into account as they take place in what the U.S. terms “areas of active hostilities.”

Outside of those countries, the U.S. runs drone and other airstrike programs in Yemen, and Africa.

Estimates from rights groups put the civilian death toll at more than 900 from January 2009 through the end of 2015, the report noted.

The DNI acknowledged the discrepancies, saying "the U.S. government uses post-strike methodologies that have been refined and honed over the years and that use information that is generally unavailable to non-governmental organizations."

President Barack Obama also issued an accompanying executive order calling on his administration to issue yearly reports on the civilian death toll outside of areas of active hostilities. U.S. agencies are also now required to act in a uniform manner to avoid civilian casualties.

“The U.S. government shall maintain and promote best practices that reduce the likelihood of civilian casualties, take appropriate steps when such casualties occur, and draw lessons from our operations to further enhance the protection of civilians,” Obama wrote.

The order, however, will not automatically carry over to the next president.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest described the disclosures as an effort to provide greater transparency of the administration’s worldwide campaign against terror groups.

“The president believes that our counter-terrorism strategy is more effective and has more credibility when we're as transparent as possible,” he told reporters.

He said strikes in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria are not included in Friday’s accounting because the Pentagon regularly discloses its understanding of those strikes.

“When there are counterterrorism operations carried out not by the Department of Defense, there was not an established mechanism for reporting the outcome,” he said. “That is what is being established today, and that's what will be reported for the first time today.”

The CIA also carries out airstrikes.