Pentagon chief orders review of 2019 Syria strike

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a four-star general to review a 2019 strike in Syria that caused civilian casualties, the Pentagon said on Monday.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters that General Michael Garrett, the head of U.S. Army Forces Command, would have 90 days to complete his review on the civilians killed, the compliance of the law of war and record keeping.

Earlier this month the New York Times reported that the U.S. strike in Baghuz, Syria, killed up to 64 women and children during the battle against Islamic State.

The attack, which took place near the Syrian town of Baghuz on March 18, 2019, was part of the final battle against IS fighters across Iraq and Syria.

It was among the largest episodes of civilian casualties in the yearslong war, but the US military had never publicly acknowledged it.

The investigation showed that the death toll — 80 people — was almost immediately apparent to military officials. A legal officer flagged the bombing as a possible war crime that required an investigation. The Defense Department’s independent inspector general began an inquiry, but the report containing its findings was stalled and stripped of any mention of the strike.