Deadly airstrike: Faulty review, but no wrongdoing

WASHINGTON A Pentagon investigation into a U.S. airstrike in Syria in 2019 that killed dozens of people, including women and children, found the military’s initial review of the attack was mishandled at multiple levels of command and replete with reporting delays and information gaps.

But the inquiry also determined most of the people killed in the strike — which was carried out by a shadowy Special Operations unit called Task Force 9 — were probably Islamic State fighters, according to three people familiar with the findings, and military officials did not violate the laws of war or deliberately conceal casualties.

The findings did not call for any disciplinary action.

In response to the inquiry, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday ordered the military to improve the way it processes reports of civilian casualties.

The attack, which took place March 18, 2019, near the Syrian town of Baghuz, was one of the largest civilian casualty incidents in the years-long war against the Islamic State militant group, but the U.S. military had never publicly acknowledged it.

A New York Times investigation showed the military initially feared dozens of people had been killed. A legal officer flagged the bombing as a possible war crime that required an investigation. The Defense Department’s independent inspector general began an inquiry, but the report containing its findings was stalled and did not mention the strike.

The military’s Central Command said in response to the Times’ reporting that the strike had been in self-defense against an imminent threat.

The inquiry is classified, and the Pentagon did not release its results. But the three people familiar with the findings said most of the other people killed were described as fighters. The Times’ investigation showed the Islamic State camp that was struck included women, children, captives and scores of wounded men.

A two-page executive summary the Pentagon released Tuesday challenged the Times’ report, saying commanders followed procedures to determine that no civilians were in the blast zone before the strike. A senior Defense Department official acknowledged, however, that the military relied on faulty intelligence from Syrian partners.

The three people familiar with the findings said 56 people had been killed but 52 of them were enemy fighters. The officials also said 17 people had been injured, 15 of whom were civilians.