MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — The Pentagon says U.S.-led coalition airstrikes have killed a total of 603 civilians since the air campaign against the Islamic State group was launched in 2014.
The report released on Friday says coalition strikes between April 19 and May 23 that were assessed during the month of May killed 119 civilians.
The report says nearly half of all those civilian deaths occurred in or near Mosul, but did not further specify locations. The coalition defines a credible casualty assessment as one that “more likely than not” resulted in civilian deaths.
The report added that in each case “all feasible precautions were taken and the decision to strike complied with the law of armed conflict.”
Allegations of civilian casualties have spiked in Iraq and Syria in recent months as military operations against IS in Iraq’s Mosul and also Syria have accelerated.
