U.S. military reveals civilian toll of anti-ISIS strikes
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military said Friday eight civilians were killed and three others injured in five airstrikes last year in Iraq and Syria.
U.S. Central Command said investigations concluded that the strikes complied with the laws on armed conflict and that appropriate precautions were taken.
The investigations found that two civilians were killed in April and three killed in June in airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). And a civilian was injured in Syria in June after moving into the target area after the aircraft fired its weapon.
Three civilians were killed in July when their car and motorcycle moved close to a targeted vehicle carrying a militant in Syria. And two people were believed injured in June in Iraq when their vehicles moved into the strike zone.
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CBS News senior national security correspondent David Martin said the new figures brought to seven the number of separate U.S. airstrikes which have resulted in civilian casualties. The total number of civilian deaths now stands at 15 from a total of about 29,000 weapons dropped in the campaign.
In recent months, the U.S. has relaxed its zero-tolerance for civilian casualties in order to broaden the types of targets it can hit.
Martin said the U.S. was willing to accept as many as 50 civilian casualties to destroy a warehouse full of cash that ISIS had stockpiled in a strike last week.
While there do appear to have been some civilians killed in that strike -- the numbers have yet to be confirmed by the Pentagon -- Martin said it is believed to have been far fewer than 50.