HRW concerned about phosphorus use by US-led coalition Fighters: American troops expand presence in Syrian desert
BEIRUT: Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed concern on Wednesday about the use of incendiary white phosphorous weapons by the US-led coalition fighting Daesh in Iraq and Syria, saying it endangers civilians when used in populated areas.
Meanwhile, opposition fighters said that US troops based in Syria’s southeastern desert have expanded their footprint, increasing the risk of direct ground confrontation between the Americans and Iranbacked pro-government forces.
US special forces have been based since last year at Tanf, a strategic Syrian highway border crossing with Iraq, where the Americans have assisted fighters trying to recapture territory from fleeing Daesh militants.
A campaign to oust Daesh militants from the northern Syrian city of Raqqa was begun last week by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a group of Kurdish and Arab militias supported by the US-led coalition.
Iraqi forces also supported by the coalition have been trying since October to oust the militants from Iraq’s Mosul, the other main city controlled by Daesh.
White phosphorus munitions can legally be used on battlefields to make smoke screens, generate illumination, mark targets or burn bunkers and buildings.
Because it has legal uses, white phosphorus is not banned as a chemical weapon under international conventions, but it can cause serious burns and start fires.
“No matter how white phosphorus is used, it poses a high risk of horrific and long-lasting harm in crowded cities like Raqqa and Mosul and any other areas with concentrations of civilians,” said Steve Goose, arms director at HRW.
“US-led forces should take all feasible precautions to minimize civilian harm when using white phosphorus in Iraq and Syria,” he said.
Also on Wednesday in Geneva, UN war crimes investigators said intensified coalition airstrikes supporting an assault by US-backed forces on Daesh’s stronghold of Raqqa in Syria were causing a “staggering loss of civilian life.”
“We note in particular that the intensification of airstrikes, which have paved the ground for an SDF advance in Raqqa, has resulted not only in staggering loss of civilian life, but has also led to 160,000 civilians fleeing their homes and becoming internally displaced,” Paulo Pinheiro, chairman of the UN Commission of Inquiry, told the Human Rights Council.
HRW said it was not able to independently verify whether the use of the munitions resulted in any civilian casualties, but said it was concerned about its use in populated areas.
The international human rights organization said white phosphorus causes severe and often fatal burns.
“White phosphorus fragments can exacerbate wounds even after treatment and can enter the bloodstream and cause multiple organ failure. Already dressed wounds can reignite when dressings are removed and they are re-exposed to oxygen,” HRW said.
US Army Col. Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the US-led coalition fighting Daesh, said the coalition does not discuss the use of specific weapons, when asked about phosphorus use by Reuters.
“In accordance with the law of armed conflict white phosphorus rounds are used for screening, obscuring, and marking in a way that fully considers the possible incidental effects on civilians and civilian structures,” Col. Dillon said in an e-mailed statement.
However, Daesh “continues its blatant disregard for innocent human life by killing civilians trying to flee the fighting and the Coalition will not stand idly by and allow civilians to die needlessly if we can help protect them,” he said.
Residents as well as the campaign group Raqqa is Being Silently Slaughtered and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor also say airstrikes have killed significant numbers of civilians.
The US-led coalition says it investigates any allegations of civilian deaths and is careful to avoid civilian casualties in its bombing in Syria and Iraq.