Classified files show US targeted civilians in Syria: NPR

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: NPR
21 Jul 2023 23:38

A recent NPR report citing classified documents exposes the hypocrisy of the Pentagon's claims of sparing civilians during military operations.

A US-made Predator unmanned aerial vehicle maneuvers on the runway after it landed at the Incirlik Air Base, on the outskirts of the city of Adana, southern Turkey, Thursday, July 30, 2015 (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

A recent report by NPR showcasing classified documents debunks the Pentagon's claims about sparing civilians during military operations.

In 2019, US Special Forces conducted an operation targetting Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, in Idlib Governorate, northwest Syria, prompting al-Baghdadi to detonate himself.

Then-US President Donald Trump called the raid "perfect," while military officials claimed that the US forces protected civilians.

The Pentagon refuted a report published by NPR, which claimed that US helicopter gunfire maimed and killed Syrian civilians during the operation, and the Pentagon stated that the targets were enemy combatants who ignored warning shots.

Subsequently, NPR filed a lawsuit under the US Freedom of Information Act against the Pentagon, demanding the declassification of documents related to the airstrike, and obtained a copy of the classified report, which had been restricted to non-US citizens.

The documents obtained by NPR, including aerial reconnaissance photos, revealed the following:

The US forces fired warning shots for only a few seconds before conducting airstrikes on a truck carrying Syrian civilians, undermining the army's assertion that the truck's passengers showed hostility by not stopping or changing their direction.
The Department of Defense did not provide any evidence to confirm that the victims were "enemy fighters" beyond the hasty estimations made by the US forces amid the darkness of the nighttime raid.

The US authorities did not follow the recommendation to prepare an intelligence dossier to support the claim that the victims were "unlawful combatants."

The Department of Defense questioned the credibility of the testimonies gathered by NPR from the sole survivor of the airstrike and the families of the victims, without engaging with the victims or conducting a comprehensive official investigation.