U.S.-led airstrike in Syria may have killed 50 civilians

GAZIANTEP, Turkey – A U.S.-led coalition airstrike killed at least 50 Syrian civilians late last month when it targeted a headquarters of Islamic State extremists in northern Syria, according to a witness and a Syrian opposition human rights organization.

The civilians were being held in a makeshift jail in the town of Al Bab, close to the Turkish border, when the aircraft struck on the evening of Dec. 28, witnesses said. The building, called the Al Saraya, a government center, was leveled in the airstrike. It was days before civil defense workers could dig out the victims’ bodies.

The U.S. Central Command, which had not announced the airstrike, confirmed the attack Saturday in response to McClatchy inquiries. “Coalition aircraft did strike and destroy an ISIL headquarters building in Al Bab on Dec. 28,” Col. Patrick S. Ryder wrote in an email.

He said a review of the airstrike showed no evidence of civilian casualties but offered to examine any additional information, “since we take all allegations seriously.” ISIL is an alternative name for the Islamic State.

U.S. officials acknowledged for the first time last week that they are investigating “at least a few” claims of civilian casualties as a result of airstrikes on Syria. “This is something we always take seriously,” said Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman. “We are very mindful of trying to mitigate the risk to civilians every time we operate, everywhere we operate.”

A subsequent email from Central Command said the Pentagon had received nine reports of civilian deaths in Syria and that determinations were still to be made in four of those. No details of the incidents were provided.

But the Syrian Network for Human Rights, an independent opposition group that tracks casualties in Syria, said it has documented the deaths of at least 40 civilians in airstrikes in the months between the start of U.S. bombing in Syria Sept. 23 through the Dec. 28 strike on Al Bab. The deaths include 13 people killed in Idlib province on the first day of the strikes. Other deaths include 23 civilians killed in the eastern province of Deir el Zour, two in Raqqa province and two more in Idlib.

Rebel commanders say they have intelligence that could avoid civilian casualties, but that U.S. officials refuse to coordinate with them.

The Central Command, on behalf of the Joint Task Force, generally issues reports of airstrikes on the day they occur, but for a while was publishing its reports only three days a week. The Al Bab strike was not included in any of the summaries, however.

Central Command spokesman Ryder said the failure to list the Dec. 28 airstrike was an administrative oversight.

McClatchy found two sources who confirmed a high civilian death toll from the airstrike. One witness, an activist in Al Bab, gave the death toll as 61 civilian prisoners and 13 Islamic State guards. The Syrian Network for Human Rights estimated the death toll at 80, and said 25 of those were Islamic State guards and another 55 were either civilians or imprisoned fighters from non-Islamic State rebel groups.

Either number would make the Al Bab strike the single worst case of civilian deaths since the U.S. began bombing targets in Syria.