A new report claims that the U.S. military hid 2019 airstrikes on Syria, which resulted in 64 deaths of children and women. This was a possible war crime committed during the conflict against Islamic State.
The two back-to-back airstrikes near the town of Baghuz were ordered by a classified American special operations unit tasked with ground operations in Syria, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
An analyst shocked by drone footage from the strike said to colleagues, via secure chat.
An assessment revealed that the actual death toll for the March 19th 2019 attack was much higher. It is possible that this incident could be one of the worst civilian casualties in US-led war against ISIS.

On March 18, 2019, heavy smoke rose above Baghouz, the last position of the Islamic State group. This was the day that the strikes which claimed to have killed civilians took place.

The last remaining ISIS position along the Euphrates River’s east banks in Baghouz, March 18, 2019: Smoke rising

Two little Syrian girls were held against their chest by a woman in Syria. They joined thousands of civilians fleeing Baghuz, the last ISIS stronghold on March 5, 2019, just days before the bomb attacks.
The strikes, called in by the secretive special operations group Task Force 9, were carried out by American F-15E attack jets that dropped one 500-pound bomb and two 2,000-pound bombs.
U.S. Central Command was responsible for overseeing U.S. operations in Syria. This week it acknowledged strikes and stated that they were valid.
Central Command reiterated to DailyMail.com the accounts it had given the newspaper, stating that 80 people died in the attacks. This included 16 Islamic State fighters as well as four civilians.
Military claimed that it wasn’t clear whether the 60 other people in question were civilians.
According to Sunday’s statement the military claimed that strikes had taken place in ‘legitimate defense’, were proportional and that it was taking appropriate measures to prevent civilians from being present.
We are horrified at the loss of innocent lives and we will do everything possible to stop them. We self-reported the incident and investigated it according to our evidence. Central Command took full responsibility for any unintentional loss of life.

The Pentagon reports that although many Baghuz children and women fled Baghuz, before the last battle, some of them remained to take up arms.

ISIS fighters were making their last stand in the crowded and filthy camp on Baghuz’s Euphrates River.
The statement stated that ISIS had made the decision to endanger their family members when there were no escape routes.
“It is important to also note that many women and children decided, either through indoctrination and choice, to join the fight and could therefore not be strictly classified as civilians.
It was impossible to determine the number of civilians killed in the sixty fatalities because of multiple armed women and at most one child.
Central Command stated that the strikes occurred while the Syrian Democratic Forces were under heavy fire, in danger of becoming overrun and after the SDF reported that the area was clear of civilians.
According to the Times, the inquiry by the Defense Department’s Inspector General into the incident in 2019 was canceled. A thorough independent investigation never occurred.
According to the newspaper, its reports were based on classified documents and descriptions of them as well as interviews with people directly affected.

On March 24, 2019, smoke rises from the remains of destroyed buildings and vehicles in Baghuz, Syria’s eastern Deir Ezzor Province.

After SDF forces destroyed Baghuz’s last stronghold on March 24, 2019, wreckage and the bodies of ISIS fighters were seen.
A lawyer from the Air Force was at the operations center when the strikes were being conducted. The Air Force later alerted their inspector general and the Senate Armed Services Committee, but no action was taken.
In May, the Senate Armed Services Committee received a letter from Lt. Col. Dean Korsak (Air Force lawyer) that described the strike as well as what he considered a “systematic failure” in civilian casualty reporting.

Lt. Col. Dean Korsak believed the strikes were possible war crimes and raised alarms to internal investigators and Congress
It all happened as ISIS fighters in Baghuz were closing in on a cramped, filthy camp by the Euphrates River.
Once vast, the caliphate had reduced its territory to a mere few miles. The last hard-core ISIS fighters, along with their families, made one final stand. They were surrounded by US forces.
ISIS was planning a desperate offensive against coalition lines on the morning before the bombing. Task Force 9 sent in drone strikes in an attempt to stop them.
The F-15E strikes were apparently called in after all drones in the area had exhausted their ordnance. Task Force 9 justifies the bombing of this area as an immediate response to a threat.
The battle was won by the bombing. The last remnants of ISIS were either captured or killed within days.
The Pentagon admitted in September that it had committed a grave error by admitting to the killing of 10 civilians including 7 children, during a drone strike on Kabul.
DailyMail.com reported the civilian deaths already.