Up to 116 civilians killed in anti-terror strikes
WASHINGTON — Peeling back some of the secrecy of America’s drone strikes on suspected terrorists, the Obama administration on Friday said it has killed up to 116 civilians in counterterror attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and other places where the U.S. is not engaged in active, on-the-ground warfare.
The first-ever public assessment is a response to mounting pressure for more information about lethal U.S. operations overseas. Human rights and other groups quickly complained that the administration undercounted civilian casualties
and called on the White House to release far more information.
The report by National Intelligence Director James Clapper said the U.S. conducted 473 counterterror strikes, including those by unmanned drones, between January 2009 and December 2015. He did not mention where the strikes occurred, but the Defense Department and CIA have pursued targets in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya. The data didn’t include strikes in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, which the U.S. considers areas of active hostilities.
The attacks killed an estimated 2,372 to 2,581 combatants in those seven years, the report said. Between 64 and 116 non-combatants were killed.
The administration noted the much higher estimates by non-governmental organizations, which go as high as 900 for the same timeframe. Senior U.S. officials cited several reasons for the discrepancy, including the government’s access to sensitive intelligence that helps it more accurately identify the deceased. Groups that have been tracking U.S. drone operations for years weren’t convinced.
“The numbers reported by the White House today simply don’t add up, and we’re disappointed by that,” said Federico Borello, executive director of Center for Civilians in Conflict in Washington. “We’re concerned that as more countries gain access to armed drone technology, it’s more likely that drones will be used as a first response in conflicts and more likely civilians will pay the price.”
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism said the administration’s number is a fraction of the 380 to 801 civilian deaths it has tallied. It records such deaths on the basis of local and international journalists’ reports, advocacy organizations, leaked government documents, court papers and field investigations. The London-based group credited the administration’s release as a welcome step toward greater transparency, but said more information on specific strikes was needed to reconcile different assessments.
Seeking to enhance safeguards for civilian protection for the rest of his presidency and beyond, Obama also signed an executive order Friday that details U.S. policies to limit non-combatant casualties. It makes protecting civilians a central element in U.S. military operations planning.
The order requires the government to publicize the number of strikes each year, and number of combatants and civilians killed. The 2016 report is due May 1.