You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

Pentagon: No One to Be Held Accountable for U.S. Airstrike That Killed 70 Civilians in Syria

HeadlineMay 18, 2022

The Pentagon has decided not to hold anyone accountable for an airstrike in the Syrian town of Baghuz in March 2019 that left as many as 70 women and children dead. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a full review of the incident after The New York Times disclosed details of the strike last year. According to the Times, the death toll was almost immediately apparent to military officials, with one legal officer flagging the attack as a possible war crime, but the Pentagon covered up key details about the strike. The bombing was carried out by a classified special operations unit known as Task Force 9. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby spoke on Tuesday.

John Kirby: “We’re admitting that, yes, we killed some innocent civilians, women and children, in 2019 in Baghuz, Syria. It’s all out there for you to see. We’re admitting that we made those mistakes, that we killed, that our operations ended up in the killing of innocent people.”

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top