US-Led Coalition Admits Killing at Least 800 Civilians by Airstrikes in Syria, Iraq

Smoke rises after a US airstrike, as the Iraqi army pushes into TopZawa village during an operation against ISIS militants near Bashiqa near Mosul, Iraq October 24, 2016. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
Smoke rises after a US airstrike, as the Iraqi army pushes into TopZawa village during an operation against ISIS militants near Bashiqa near Mosul, Iraq October 24, 2016. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
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US-Led Coalition Admits Killing at Least 800 Civilians by Airstrikes in Syria, Iraq

Smoke rises after a US airstrike, as the Iraqi army pushes into TopZawa village during an operation against ISIS militants near Bashiqa near Mosul, Iraq October 24, 2016. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
Smoke rises after a US airstrike, as the Iraqi army pushes into TopZawa village during an operation against ISIS militants near Bashiqa near Mosul, Iraq October 24, 2016. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah

At least 800 civilians have been killed by US-led coalition airstrikes against the ISIS terrorist group in Iraq and Syria since the campaign began in 2014, according to a Pentagon report released Thursday.

Five more strikes, all in Syria, were investigated over the past month and found to have resulted in 15 civilian additional civilian deaths, the report stated.

“We continue to hold ourselves accountable for actions that may have caused unintentional injury or death to civilians,” the coalition said in its report.

However, monitoring groups say the number of civilian casualties from coalition airstrikes in the fight against ISIS is far higher than the Pentagon acknowledges.

Since August 2014, more than 5,000 civilians have been killed as a result of coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, according to the London-based Airwars organization that tracks civilian deaths in the anti-ISIS operations.

The majority of civilian casualty allegations are currently from coalition airstrikes in Syria. The Pentagon says they are still assessing 695 reports of civilian casualties, more than 400 of which are from strikes carried out in Syria.

US-backed Syrian forces retook the city of Raqqa from ISIS control in October and pushed ISIS militants out of a swath of territory along the Euphrates river valley in the following weeks.

Each investigation that found an allegation credible determined it was "more likely than not" that a coalition strike resulted in a civilian casualty, the report stated.

"Although all feasible precautions were taken and the decision to strike complied with the law of armed conflict, unintended civilian casualties unfortunately occurred," the Pentagon added.

Since the start of the campaign against ISIS, the coalition has carried out more than 28,000 strikes and has received 1,790 reports of potential civilian casualties, the report said. These airstrikes have contributed to fueling progress against ISIS by Iraqi and Syrian ground forces, reducing ISIS-held territory to pockets of desert along the Iraqi-Syrian border.



Pope, Israeli PM Speak by Phone after Gaza Church Strike

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III visit the Church of the Holy Family which was hit in an Israeli strike on Thursday, in Gaza City July 18, 2025. The Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem/Handout via REUTERS
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III visit the Church of the Holy Family which was hit in an Israeli strike on Thursday, in Gaza City July 18, 2025. The Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem/Handout via REUTERS
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Pope, Israeli PM Speak by Phone after Gaza Church Strike

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III visit the Church of the Holy Family which was hit in an Israeli strike on Thursday, in Gaza City July 18, 2025. The Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem/Handout via REUTERS
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III visit the Church of the Holy Family which was hit in an Israeli strike on Thursday, in Gaza City July 18, 2025. The Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem/Handout via REUTERS

Pope Leo XIV emphasized the importance of protecting places of worship in a call Friday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following Israel's deadly strike on Gaza's only Catholic Church, the Vatican said.

The pontiff also renewed his appeal for negotiations, a ceasefire and the end of the war, while reiterating his concern for the "dramatic humanitarian situation" in the Palestinian territory, it said in a statement, AFP reported.

The Vatican said Netanyahu initiated the call on Friday morning, the day after Israeli fire on the Holy Family Church in Gaza City killed three people and provoked international condemnation.

"During the conversation, the Holy Father renewed his appeal to revive negotiations and reach a ceasefire and the end of the war," the Vatican said in a statement, noting that Leo was at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.

"He once again expressed his concern for the dramatic humanitarian situation of the population in Gaza, whose heartbreaking toll is borne particularly by children, the elderly and the sick.

"Finally, the Holy Father reiterated the urgency of protecting places of worship and especially the faithful and all people in Palestine and Israel."

Netanyahu has said Israel "deeply regrets" the strike, and blamed a "stray round".

He repeated this regret in the conversation with the pope, which was "friendly", a spokesman for Netanyahu told AFP, adding that the two men agreed to meet soon.