There is “credible” evidence British airstrikes against the Islamic State group have killed civilians in Iraq and Syria, the US military has said.
The Ministry of Defence has continued to deny American reports that some RAF airstrikes against IS have harmed civilians.
The RAF has deployed 4,409 bombs and missiles in the five-year war with IS.
The MoD's approach to identifying civilian casualties has been described as “not fit for purpose”.
Airwars, a group which has been monitoring the bombing campaign and its impact on civilians, has obtained details of 11 airstrikes carried out by European nations in which at least 40 civilians were killed.
The UK has admitted the RAF was involved in three of the strikes but still insists no civilians were killed.
One of the incidents involving the RAF was investigated by the BBC in 2018 after a whistleblower inside the US-led anti-IS coalition reported civilian deaths.
The coalition now confirms two civilians were killed.
The MoD claims it has killed 3,964 IS fighters and injured 298.
But so far it has accepted responsibility for just one civilian casualty – and none in the heavily-bombed cities of Raqqa and Mosul, where thousands of civilians are believed to have died.
…
