The United States Department of Defense has estimated that no fewer than 12 civilians were killed, while five were injured because of US military operations in 2021.
“The Department of Defense estimates that 12 civilians were killed and 5 others injured in 2021 in American military operations,” indicates an annual report required by Congress since 2018, part of which remains a secret.
All of the civilian casualties were killed in Afghanistan, according to the public part of the report released on Tuesday.
The Pentagon has already admitted responsibility for the deaths of 10 family members, including seven children, during the chaotic US withdrawal operations at the end of August 2021 in Kabul.
The public document specifies that a civilian was killed in a US strike on January 8, 2021, in Herat, and another on August 11 in Kandahar. Two civilians were also injured on January 18 in Kandahar.
In addition, the American army acknowledges having injured three civilians in January 2021 in a strike in Qunyo Barrow, Somalia, targeting al-Shabaab compounds.
The Pentagon has reassessed its counts from the years 2018 to 2020, to recognize 10 more dead and 18 injured, all in Syria.
CNN reports that ten of the civilians killed in 2021 were killed during a botched drone strike the US military conducted in Kabul on August 29, one day before the end of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Seven of the ten civilians killed in that incident were said to be children.
The botched drone strike triggered a US Air Force investigation and an apology from then-head of US Central Command Gen. Frank McKenzie, acknowledging it was a “mistake.” Ultimately, no US military leaders or troops were penalized for the strike.
Two other civilians were killed in two separate air strikes in Afghanistan in 2021, one conducted on January 8 in Herat, Afghanistan and one conducted on August 11 in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Two civilians were injured during a US airstrike conducted in Kandahar, Afghanistan on January 18, 2021, the report stated.