CENTCOM: Air Strike Killed 4 Civilians

A March air strike conducted against Daesh (Islamic State) targets near al Hatra, Iraq, killed four civilians, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed. The incident involved two vehicles that approached a Daesh checkpoint, and remained there while other vehicles were allowed to pass. Meanwhile, aerial observers identified the checkpoint and alerted the operations center of its existence. The four civilians who were detained died in the air raid launched as a result of the identification of the checkpoint. A CENTCOM spokesman apologized for the loss of life, but countered that the checkpoint was a valid military target. “The aircrew had no opportunity to detect the presence of the likely civilians in the target area prior to the weapons impact,” the spokesman said.