US Airstrikes Kill 22 Civilians in Iraqi Market

Attack Hit Apartments Around Marketplace

A Monday US airstrike against the ISIS-held town of Hit has killed at least 22 Iraqi civilians, and wounded many more, according to locals. The strikes hit a marketplace, along with apartments alongside the market.

Locals say they believe the intended target was a building containing ISIS fighters, just down the road, but the indications are that that building wasn’t hit, with locals saying it was likely a “mistake.”

Centcom’s own statement on the matter simply mentions an airstrike west of Ramadi hitting a “ISIS-held building,” but offered no details on casualties.

The Pentagon further claimed the incident of civilian deaths was “false” and that they had seen no evidence of any civilians killed, the same blanket statement they’ve made for every other airstrike in Iraq and Syria, even after they’ve been confirmed to kill civilians.

The lack of decent intelligence on what the US is actually hitting in airstrikes is likely to give way to more such incidents in the weeks, months, and years to come, as officials continue to ratchet up the air war.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.