{"slug":"drone-strike-civilian-casualties-expansion","title":"Drone War Expansion: Relaxed Rules of Engagement and Surging Civilian Casualties","date":"2017-03-06","lastUpdated":"2020-12-01","description":"The Trump administration dramatically expanded drone and air strikes in Somalia, Yemen, and Afghanistan, relaxed Obama-era rules of engagement, eliminated civilian harm tracking requirements, and reclassified military-age males in strike zones as presumptive combatants — leading to a sharp increase in documented civilian casualties.","summary":"Trump granted the military broader strike authority, designated large areas as 'Areas of Active Hostility' enabling expanded strike approvals, removed mandatory civilian harm mitigation steps, and stopped requiring senior White House approval for counterterrorism strikes. Airwars and the UN documented a sharp rise in civilian casualties across Somalia, Yemen, and Afghanistan.","category":"extrajudicial-killing","severity":"extreme","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://airwars.org/news-and-investigations/trumps-air-war-in-numbers/","title":"Trump's Air War in Numbers","publisher":"Airwars"},{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/world/africa/trump-somalia-policy.html","title":"Trump Expands War With Al Shabaab in Somalia","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/14/civilian-deaths-drone-strikes-trump-administration","title":"Trump administration sees 'large increase in civilian deaths' from US airstrikes","publisher":"The Guardian"},{"url":"https://www.aclu.org/report/dropping-the-ball-how-trump-has-weakened-civilian-protection","title":"Dropping the Ball: How the Trump Administration Has Weakened Civilian Protection","publisher":"ACLU"},{"url":"https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/sc13831.doc.htm","title":"United Nations reports on civilian casualties from air strikes","publisher":"United Nations"},{"url":"https://theintercept.com/2017/11/16/nsa-drone-targeting-false-positive-reports/","title":"The NSA's Secret Role in the U.S. Assassination Program","publisher":"The Intercept"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["drone-strikes","civilian-casualties","Somalia","Yemen","Afghanistan","first-term","rules-of-engagement","war-crimes"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2017-01-29","title":"First major strike authorized by Trump goes wrong","summary":"A Special Operations raid in Yemen authorized by Trump kills 25 civilians including 9 children; Chief Petty Officer William 'Ryan' Owens, the first U.S. soldier killed under Trump's watch, also dies. Trump later blames the military for the outcome."},{"date":"2017-03-06","title":"Somalia and Yemen designated Areas of Active Hostility","summary":"Trump signs an order designating parts of Somalia and Yemen as 'Areas of Active Hostility,' giving the military authority to conduct strikes without individual White House approval — a significant loosening of Obama-era strike protocols."},{"date":"2017-09-01","title":"Afghanistan strike rules loosened further","summary":"The Department of Defense loosens rules of engagement in Afghanistan, allowing strikes in support of Afghan forces even when U.S. forces are not directly threatened."},{"date":"2018-03-06","title":"Trump administration drops civilian casualty reporting","summary":"The Trump administration announces it will no longer publish an annual report on civilian casualties from drone strikes — the first such report had been required by an Obama executive order."},{"date":"2019-03-01","title":"Airwars: civilian deaths tripled","summary":"Airwars publishes data showing civilian deaths from U.S. strikes in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Yemen have roughly tripled compared to the same period under Obama."},{"date":"2019-07-01","title":"UN documents mass civilian casualties in Afghanistan","summary":"The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan documents that U.S.-led forces have for the first time killed more civilians than the Taliban in a given period — driven by the surge in air strikes."},{"date":"2020-12-01","title":"Civilian casualty figures for Trump first term","summary":"End-of-term assessments by Airwars and other monitoring organizations put U.S.-caused civilian deaths under Trump at over 1,300 — likely an undercount given restricted access to strike sites."}],"location":{"name":"Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan","lat":2,"lng":45.3},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"probable","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"Geneva Conventions","article":"Additional Protocol I, Article 51","provision":"Protection of civilian population — attacks must distinguish between combatants and civilians; presumption of combatant status for all males of military age violates this requirement"},{"statute":"Geneva Conventions","article":"Additional Protocol I, Article 57","provision":"Precautions in attack — all feasible precautions must be taken to minimize incidental civilian loss"},{"statute":"Rome Statute","article":"Article 8(2)(b)(iv)","provision":"Intentionally launching an attack knowing it will cause excessive incidental civilian casualties in relation to the anticipated military advantage is a war crime"},{"statute":"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights","article":"Article 6","provision":"Right to life — arbitrary killing of civilians by drone strike without adequate legal process"}],"iccRelevance":true,"civilianCasualties":1300,"victims":"Estimated 1,300+ civilians killed in U.S. airstrikes 2017-2020 per Airwars estimates; actual figures likely higher due to limited access","structuredVictims":[{"group":"Civilians killed in U.S. airstrikes in Somalia","status":"Civilians killed under expanded rules of engagement"},{"group":"Civilians killed in U.S. airstrikes in Yemen","status":"Civilians killed in joint U.S.-Saudi strikes"},{"group":"Civilians killed in U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan","status":"Civilians killed under expanded strike authority"}],"structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President of the United States","institution":"White House"},{"name":"James Mattis","role":"Secretary of Defense","institution":"Department of Defense"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2020-12-01","summary":"Updated with end-of-term civilian casualty estimates."},{"date":"2019-07-01","summary":"Updated with UN Afghanistan civilian casualty report."}]}}