Reports Reveal U.S Military Killed 12 Civilians Worldwide In 2021
A report released by the Pentagon on Tuesday reveals that the U.S. military has killed 12 civilians in Afghanistan in 2021.
According to the report, the 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,”
Nexus News gathered that the Congress has required that the report should be produced annually since 2018, part of which is classified.
All of the civilian deaths happened in Afghanistan. However, the Pentagon has already admitted responsibility for the deaths of 10 members of the same family, including seven children, during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan at the end of August 2021.
According to the public document, a civilian was killed in a U.S. strike on January 8 in Herat and another on August 11 in Kandahar. Two civilians were also injured on January 18 in Kandahar.
Furthermore, the U.S. military has admitted having injured three civilians on January 1 in a strike in Qunyo Barrow, Somalia.
The Pentagon also reassessed its counts from 2018 to 2020, acknowledging 10 more dead and 18 wounded, all in Syria.
CGTN reports that nongovernmental organizations publish higher estimations of deaths and injuries from U.S. hits in war zones.
The organization Airwars in an annual report published in May, lists the civilian victims of air strikes around the world, estimated that between 15 and 27, civilians had been killed in U.S. operations in Syria alone.
In January 2022, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin instructed the military to do more to prevent civilian casualties in airstrikes after various deadly blunders degraded the reputation of the military.
