“No Rules of Engagement (ROE) or Law of War (LOW) Violations Occurred. In authorizing those strikes, the [Ground Force Commander] acted within Presidentially-authorized defensive ROE, did not deliberately or with wanton disregard cause civilian casualties, and did not violate the LOW,” the review’s executive summary said.
The probe was led by US Army General Michael Garrett, who established a joint review committee to examine relevant materials, according to the executive summary.
The strike, which took place on March 18, 2019 in the city of Baghuz, was meant to target Daesh* fighters launching an attack against Syrian forces, who requested the air support, the executive summary said.
The commander in charge of providing the support repeatedly received confirmations that no civilians were within the strike area, which ended up being untrue, the executive summary said.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby during a press briefing on Tuesday provided further details about the investigation and emphasized the United States’ commitment to accountability and transparency when it comes to civilian casualty incidents.
“There was a total of 73 casualties. 52 enemies were killed in action. Of those 52, 51 were adult males; one was a child. Two enemies were wounded in action, both were males. Four civilians were killed, one female and three children, and 15 civilians were wounded, 11 women and four children,” Kirby said when asked to provide figures of those killed by the strike.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday in a memo on the report expressed disappointment with the probe’s missed deadlines, citing concerns about public perceptions of the Pentagon not taking the incident seriously.
Austin in the memo also provided Pentagon leadership with directions on how to improve the civilian casualty incident review process for future cases, including proper documentation, thorough assessment, and meeting deadlines.