Marine Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of US Central Command, speaks as a photo of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is displayed during a news conference on October 30, 2019, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. McKenzie spoke to reporters to provide an update on the special operations raid on the leader of the Islamic State in Syria’s Idlib province.
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Marine Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of US Central Command, speaks as a photo of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is displayed during a news conference on October 30, 2019, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. McKenzie spoke to reporters to provide an update on the special operations raid on the leader of the Islamic State in Syria’s Idlib province.
Alex Wong / Getty Images
NPR sued the US Department of Defense for the release of documents relating to possible civilian casualties in the October 2019 military air strike in Syria that resulted in the death of the leader of the Islamic State Abu Dhabi. Bakr al-Baghdadi.
At the end of 2019, NPR reported the statement A US helicopter fire that killed two Syrian civilians and blew off another civilian’s arm during the raid, prompted an investigation by US Central Command. Last year, Pentagon disarms troops on wrongdoing, classifying Syrian victims as enemy fighters and ruling that their families are ineligible to receive US payments to civilians killed as a result of US attacks in another country.
But the Pentagon’s account of the events offers no evidence that the three were fighters or intended to threaten the military, raising questions about whether the US misjudged innocent civilians to protect defend a well-known campaign against the leader of the Islamic State.
NPR petitioned Central Command to release documents related to the operation and investigation, including military footage of the operation, the Pentagon’s assessment of the victim’s family eligibility. whether or not to pay and any communications by top Department of Defense officials about the possibility of civilian deaths and maimeds.
Mustafa Shaaban, a relative and close friend of Barakat Barakat, the Syrian man, said that he lost his right arm and used most of the fingers on his left hand during the attack.
The release of the records could shed light on the circumstances of the attack and whether the Pentagon covered up evidence of civilian casualties or did not thoroughly investigate the claims. The Pentagon said it was investigating allegations of civil harm and allocating funds to condolences to the families of civilian victims.
NPR file a lawsuit against it Wednesday in the United States Southern District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit alleges the Pentagon failed to comply with its legal obligation to provide documents or respond in a timely manner to NPR requests under the Freedom of Information Act.
“Records relating to civil damages resulting from the Search Request are necessary to ensure transparency and accountability for the actions of the United States government. The public interest is at stake in this regard. publication of these documents is of paramount importance,” the lawsuit states.
A Pentagon spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
The Pentagon has been scrutinizing its role in recent civilian casualties in Afghanistan and Syria.
US Central Command initially said the drone strike on members of the Islamic State of Afghanistan in Afghanistan was “a righteous attack”, but later called it was a “tragic mistake” after media coverage. New York Times and washington articles civilian casualty reports. A separation Times investigation alleged that military officials tried to cover up a 2019 air strike in Syria that allegedly killed dozens of civilians.
“U.S. Central Command has a history of ignoring civilian deaths and injuries until challenged by the media,” the NPR lawsuit said. “The records sought in this Request, relating to another air strike in which CENTCOM may have underestimated the number of civilians killed, are of paramount public importance.”
