According to a report by the New York Times, American attacks carried out by a special unit that resulted in the killing of about 60 women and children were covered up by the US military authorities. The said attack was carried out as part of the fighting in the Islamic State.
As mentioned, these were two attacks carried out back-to-back in a town in Ghoz in Syria, and they were carried out by a special and classified unit that was entrusted with carrying out ground operations in Syria, according to the report published by the newspaper. It was further reported that the United States Army Central Command, which oversaw the state’s air operations in Syria, acknowledged these attacks for the first time this week, claiming they were justified. In a statement issued to the newspaper, the Central Command stated that 80 people were killed in these attacks, including 16 ISIS fighters and four civilians. The U.S. military further noted that it was unclear whether the other 60 killed were civilians, including that women and children could have been fighters in the organization. They noted that the reason was that in the documentation of the events ‘many armed women were observed, alongside at least one armed child’.
“The attacks in question are ‘legitimate and proportionate self-defense’ and that ‘appropriate steps have been taken to deny the presence of civilians at the scene,'” he said. “We investigated the attack based on our evidence. We take responsibility for the loss of life.” The U.S. military further claimed that the attacks in question took place while Syrian democratic forces were under heavy fire, and were in significant danger. They then reported that the area was free of civilian presence.
The U.S. Air Force attorney, who was present at the Commander-in-Chief at the time, said at the time that the attacks were a possible war crime and even alerted the Secretary of Defense, and the Senate Armed Services Committee when no action was taken.