WASHINGTON -- A U.S. air attack on an Islamic State checkpoint in Iraq in March probably killed four civilians, possibly including a child, according to findings released Friday from a U.S. military investigation.
Investigators concluded that the checkpoint was a valid target and that the attack did not violate international laws governing armed conflict.
"All reasonable measures were taken to avoid unintended deaths of, or injuries to, noncombatants," Central Command spokesman Col. Patrick Ryder said.
Ryder told reporters that the four civilians emerged from two vehicles parked at the checkpoint after the A-10 attack plane released its weapons. Their presence inside the vehicles had not been known, Ryder said, at the time the attack was authorized.
The four were in addition to the drivers of the two vehicles, who had gotten out and spoke with IS checkpoint personnel for about 40 minutes. Because of the interaction between the drivers and the checkpoint personnel, the drivers were deemed to be associated with IS and therefore were valid targets.
Post-strike analysis of A-10 video footage indicated that the four people who had been undetected inside the vehicles, "exited the two vehicles after the aircrews released weapons on the target and immediately before the weapons impacted the target area," an executive summary of the investigation report said. "Video footage review indicates the aircrew had no opportunity to detect the presence of the likely civilians" before the weapons hit the target area.
A Central Command statement expressed regret for what it called the unintentional loss of civilian lives.
Several other allegations of civilian casualties linked to U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria are under investigation.
