The US military bombed the Tabqa Dam in Northern Syria in March 2017, causing loss of function, despite the dam being on a no-strike list of protected civilian sites, the New York Times reported Thursday, citing anonymous former officials.

US special operations forces struck the dam using large conventional bombs, including at least one BLU-109 bunker-buster bomb made to destroy thick concrete structures. The attack caused the dam to stop functioning, nearly resulting in a catastrophe, the report highlighted.

The reservoir rose some 50 feet and almost spilled over, which could have had catastrophic repercussions that would have seen the number of casualties "exceed[ing] the number of Syrians who have died throughout the war," a former dam director said.

US Central Command chief spokesperson Captain Bill Urban admitted to the strike but claimed it targeted towers attached to the dam, not the dam itself.

The strike resulted in an incredibly dire situation that caused Turkish authorities upstream to stop the flow of water into Syria. Consequently, the terrorist ISIS group, the Syrian Defense Forces, the Syrian government, and the United States called for an emergency ceasefire.

According to the report, dam workers found an undetonated BLU-109 bunker-buster bomb five floors deep in the structure's control tower, which is speculated to be behind the collapse.

The US army bombed the location despite recommendations from the Defense Intelligence Agency not to do so, citing concerns over critical malfunction and a deadly flood.

The US special operations forces reportedly ordered the strike for alleged pre-emptive "terrain denial," and initially used bombs that explode in the air ahead of requesting the bunker-buster after the former failed to serve their goal.

Days after the strike, ISIS fighters fled the area, continuing the work of the US by sabotaging the turbines during their retreat.