July 06, 2021

Defense News: Lawmakers say DoD undercounts civilian casualties

The Pentagon says fewer than two dozen civilians were killed in overseas anti-terrorism operations last year, but a pair of U.S. lawmakers doesn’t believe them.

In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., are asking for a formal probe into potential undercounting of civilian casualties by the Defense Department, saying the issue cuts to the core of military integrity and transparency.

Last month, a Pentagon report acknowledged 23 civilian deaths and 10 injuries from the result of its operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia, during 2020. That’s a significant drop from the 132 civilian casualties the Pentagon acknowledged the previous year.

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Read the full article here.


By:  Joe Gould
Source: Defense News