US-Led Airstrikes Kill 10 Civilians in Syria

US Insists They 'Have a Process' to Investigate Killings

US warplanes pounding Syria killed 10 more civilians over the past few days, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Seven were killed Friday when the planes attacked a gas processing plant in Deir Ezzor Province, causing an explosion in a small town. Three more were killed in a strike further north.

Pentagon officials shrugged off the reports, insisting there was no proof their planes actually killed the people, and insisting that there is a “process” in place to investigate such killings.

US warplanes had killed other civilians late last month in Syria when destroying a series of grain silos they reportedly thought was a “militant base,” and destroyed all the food for several villages in the process.

Despite the Pentagon continuing to insist care is taken not to kill civilians, the administration made a point of formally relaxing the standards of killing civilians inside ISIS-held territory, insisting pledges not to attack places where civilians are known to be don’t apply in the new 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.