U.S. tallies civilian casualties

Pentagon says 20 have died in Iraq and Syria airstrikes since fall.

IRBIL, Iraq — Nine U.S. airstrikes have “likely resulted” in the deaths of 20 civilians and injuries to 11 others in Iraq and Syria since last fall, the Pentagon announced Friday.

The figure brings to 41 the Pentagon’s official civilian death toll from U.S. airstrikes since the Obama administration launched its air war against the militant group Islamic State nearly two years ago.

That tally is far lower than independent monitors say were caused by errant bombs or poor targeting. Human rights and aid groups say the Pentagon has underestimated the civilians killed or wounded.

“We deeply regret the unintentional loss of life and injuries resulting from those strikes and express our deepest sympathies to the victims’ families and those affected,” U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said in a statement.

The military is investigating 23 other allegations of civilian deaths in Iraq and Syria, officials said.

Human rights and humanitarian aid groups estimate that several hundred civilians have been killed or wounded in the more than 11,750 airstrikes launched by the U.S. and its allies since August 2014.

Airwars.org, a nonprofit group that relies on social media and eyewitness accounts, estimates that coalition airstrikes have killed at least 1,000 civilians so far.

The military said that the airstrikes complied with laws on armed conflict and that “all appropriate precautions” were taken to prevent civilian casualties.

Military and intelligence personnel are supposed to calculate the blast area and potential risk to civilians before any attack is approved.

To minimize the risk, they are supposed to determine the size of the missile or bomb, the angle at which it should hit, and often the time of attack. U.S. spy satellites and drone aircraft relay live video before and after the bombs hit.

Central Command did not release its investigation of civilian casualties, instead summarizing its findings in a news release.