{"slug":"baghuz-airstrike-cover-up-2019","title":"Baghuz Strike: US Bombs Hit a Crowd of Mostly Women and Children in Syria; Military Hid It for Over Two Years (March 2019)","date":"2019-03-18","lastUpdated":"2026-10-04","description":"On 18 March 2019, in the final battle against the Islamic State at Baghuz, Syria, a US F-15E dropped a 500-pound bomb on a crowd sheltering by a river bank, then 2,000-pound bombs on people who ran. According to The New York Times, the initial battle damage assessment counted about 70 dead, up to 64 of them women and children; drone analysts watching wrote 'We just dropped on 50 women and children.' An Air Force lawyer flagged a possible war crime, but the site was bulldozed, the strike was not publicly acknowledged and an inspector general investigation was stalled. The military acknowledged it only after the Times' November 2021 inquiry, saying 80 people died, including 16 fighters and 4 civilians, and that the strike was justified.","summary":"A US special-operations task force called in bombs on a crowd near Baghuz in 2019 that military investigators believed was mostly women and children. The strike was hidden from the public for more than two and a half years. The military later called it self-defence and justified; its count of civilian dead is far lower than its own investigators'.","category":"extrajudicial-killing","severity":"severe","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/us-covered-up-devastating-air-strike-in-syria-in-2019-report-1.4728467","title":"US covered up devastating air strike in Syria in 2019 – report","publisher":"The Irish Times (The New York Times)"},{"url":"https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/pentagon-chief-orders-review-of-2019-syria-strike-that-killed-civilians-687356","title":"Pentagon chief orders review of 2019 Syria strike that killed civilians","publisher":"Jerusalem Post (Reuters)"},{"url":"https://theintercept.com/2021/11/18/isis-syria-us-airstrikes-civilians-killed/","title":"The U.S.-Led Bombings That Ended the ISIS 'Caliphate' Killed Scores of Civilians","publisher":"The Intercept"},{"url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61492436","title":"US military probe finds no wrongdoing in deadly Syria air strike","publisher":"BBC News"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Syria","Baghuz","ISIS","airstrike","civilian casualties","cover-up","accountability"],"relatedEntries":["raqqa-coalition-bombardment-2017","syrian-kurds-betrayal-turkey-offensive","drone-strike-civilian-casualties-expansion","pentagon-ig-civilian-harm-dismantlement"],"timeline":[{"date":"2019-03-18","title":"Bombs dropped on crowd at Baghuz","summary":"During the final battle against ISIS, a US F-15E drops a 500-pound bomb on a crowd by a river bank, followed by 2,000-pound bombs on people fleeing. An initial assessment counts about 70 dead (The New York Times, via The Irish Times)."},{"date":"2019-03-22","title":"Site appears bulldozed","summary":"Satellite images show the blast area appears to have been bulldozed (Irish Times)."},{"date":"2021-11-13","title":"New York Times reveals the strike","summary":"The New York Times reports the strike and its concealment, including Lt. Col. Dean Korsak's war-crime report and the stalled inspector general investigation. Central Command acknowledges 80 dead but says only four were civilians and the strike was justified (Irish Times, 14 November 2021)."},{"date":"2021-11-18","title":"Wider pattern reported","summary":"The Intercept reports that the bombing came to light only after investigations, including by the inspector general and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, had been blocked or buried."},{"date":"2021-11-29","title":"Austin orders review","summary":"Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin orders Gen. Michael Garrett to review the civilian deaths, law-of-war compliance and record keeping within 90 days (Jerusalem Post/Reuters)."}],"location":{"name":"Baghuz, Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria","lat":34.46,"lng":40.95},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"potential","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"Geneva Conventions, Common Article 3","provision":"Protection of persons taking no active part in hostilities in a non-international armed conflict (US is a party)"},{"statute":"Customary international humanitarian law (ICRC study)","article":"Rules 1, 14–17 and 158","provision":"Distinction; proportionality; precautions in attack; duty to investigate war crimes and, where appropriate, prosecute suspects"},{"statute":"Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court","article":"Article 8(2)(e)(i)","provision":"Intentionally directing attacks against civilians in a non-international armed conflict (US and Syria are not States Parties)"}],"iccRelevance":true,"victims":"About 70 people killed by the initial military assessment and 80 by Central Command's later acknowledgement. The New York Times reported that up to 64 of the dead were women and children, and drone analysts described the crowd as women and children. Central Command's position is that 16 were fighters and four were civilians, with the status of the other 60 unclear. No victims have been publicly named. Because the figures are so far apart, this entry records no single civilian casualty number.","perpetrators":"The US special operations task force that called in the strike and the F-15E aircrew; US Central Command, which classified the strike as self-defence, did not report it publicly and later called it justified; the officials who stalled the inspector general's investigation. President Donald Trump was commander-in-chief at the time of the strike.","structuredVictims":[{"group":"People sheltering on a river bank at Baghuz, reported to be mostly women and children","status":"about 70–80 killed; up to 64 women and children per the NYT; 4 civilians per CENTCOM and the 2022 military review"}],"structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"US special operations task force","role":"Called in the strike","institution":"Department of Defense"},{"name":"US Central Command","role":"Classified the strike as self-defence, did not disclose it, and later deemed it justified","institution":"Department of Defense"},{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"Commander-in-chief at the time of the strike","institution":"White House"}],"keyPoints":["On 18 March 2019 a US F-15E dropped a 500-pound (227kg) bomb on a crowd near Baghuz; as a few people stumbled away, a jet dropped 2,000-pound (907kg) bombs on them. The attack took 12 minutes (The New York Times, via The Irish Times).","According to the Times, coalition drones had watched the area for weeks and 'knew nearly every inch, ... including the daily movements of groups of women and children'. A drone analyst typed: 'We just dropped on 50 women and children' (The Intercept, citing the Times).","An initial battle damage assessment found about 70 dead. The Times reported that up to 64 of them were women and children (Irish Times; Reuters via Jerusalem Post). The strike log classified it as self-defence (Irish Times).","Air Force legal officer Lt. Col. Dean Korsak believed he had witnessed possible war crimes and reported it; an evaluator in the Pentagon inspector general's office found the allegation 'extremely credible'. The inspector general's report was stalled and stripped of mention of the strike (Irish Times).","Satellite images four days later show the area appeared to have been bulldozed (Irish Times).","After the Times' inquiry, Central Command acknowledged for the first time that 80 people were killed, but said the bombs killed 16 fighters and four civilians and that the strikes were justified; it said it was unclear whether the other 60 were civilians (Irish Times).","On 29 November 2021 Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered Gen. Michael Garrett to review the strike, including 'the compliance of the law of war and record keeping' (Jerusalem Post/Reuters). The review, released in May 2022, found the strike killed 52 combatants and four civilians and that troops did not violate the laws of war (BBC)."],"searchAliases":["Baghuz","Baghuz airstrike","Dean Korsak"],"verificationStatus":"cross-referenced","legalBasis":"Common Article 3; customary IHL on distinction, proportionality and precautions; the customary duty to investigate alleged war crimes (ICRC Rule 158); Rome Statute Art. 8(2)(e)(i) as reflecting custom","postureNote":"No court has ruled. The core reporting is The New York Times' November 2021 investigation, read here through The Irish Times' republication and follow-up reporting by The Intercept and Reuters (via the Jerusalem Post); the original NYT pages could not be fetched. The outcome of Gen. Garrett's review (May 2022: 52 combatants and four civilians killed, no law-of-war violation) is taken from BBC reporting of the Pentagon's announcement. The facts of the concealment are well documented; whether those who called in the strike knew the crowd was mostly civilian is the contested element.","relatedIncidents":["raqqa-coalition-bombardment-2017","syrian-kurds-betrayal-turkey-offensive","drone-strike-civilian-casualties-expansion","pentagon-ig-civilian-harm-dismantlement"]}}