Pentagon could have done more to prevent casualties in key Syria battle, report
A 2017 decision to encircle the Islamic State's capital at Raqqa inhibited the possibility of civilian escape corridors, a Pentagon-sponsored report found.
A Pentagon-commissioned report concluded that the US military could have done more to prevent harm to civilians during the pivotal battle for the Islamic State’s (IS) capital city at Raqqa, Syria, in 2017.
A study released by the Rand Corporation March 31 said decisions by top US officials inhibited the ability of noncombatants to escape the IS-held city under heavy bombardment.
Among the fateful decisions was a refusal to introduce a large number of American ground troops and to allow lesser trained and lightly armed Kurdish-led militias encircle the city instead.
“Pushing [IS] out of Raqqa and into terrain that was more sparsely populated would have allowed more fighters to escape and potentially lengthened the campaign,” the report read. “But the risk of civilian harm in Raqqa and other more heavily populated areas would clearly have been reduced.”
