UK Government’s ‘no civilians killed in Syria airstrikes’ claim rubbished by campaigners

BY JUDITH DUFFY

THE British Government’s insistence that no civilians have died as a result of UK airstrikes in Syria and Iraq has been slated by independent observers. “Is it remotely possible that the UK has carried out 1,000 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria and caused no civilian casualties?” said Chris Woods, director of monitoring group Airwars. “Absolutely not, it would be unprecedented in the history of warfare.”

Amnesty International’s Neil Sammonds agreed that it was “extremely inconceivable they have not killed any civilians”.

British aircraft have been targeting Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria as part of the US-led coalition for two years this week, carrying out more than 1,000 attacks since the operation began on 26 September, 2014.

The claim of zero civilian casualties as a result of using precise weapons has come under fresh scrutiny after the UK last week admitted RAF Reaper drones were involved in an airstrike which accidentally killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers fighting IS.

Airwars said it has alerted the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to 43 reports of incidents in which civilian casualties were alleged between December and July this year which had the potential to be linked to UK airstrikes.

But in each case, the MoD has said it either did not participate in the event or that its own internal review indicated no civilian casualties.

Earlier this year, the Sunday Herald highlighted concerns that the MoD was refusing to investigate reports of deaths on the ground caused by UK military personnel and “local forces” deemed friendly.

The MoD subsequently would consider investigating

allegations of civilian deaths raised by monitoring groups.

Airwars’ Woods said it now sent monthly reports to the MoD flagging up any potential incidents for investigation, which was a “welcome step forward”.

But he added: “On the cases so far, they have said either British aircraft simply weren’t involved in these events – that is understandable. On some occasions they will come back and say yes we have conducted that strike, we’vedoneourownassessment now and concluded there were no civilian casualties. said it