civilian casualties

Exclusive – World-Renowned Expert on Urban Combat: Hamas ‘Creating’ Civilian Deaths to Stir World Against IDF

Despite the “nightmare” of tunnel warfare, the mission being carried out by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) appears “very successful,” though Israel doesn’t have unlimited time, according to retired United States Army Major and urban warfare expert John Spencer, who deemed Hamas an “existential threat” whose strategy is to “create their own civilians’ deaths and get the world to react,” in order to prevent the IDF from eliminating their military capabilities — “and it is working.” 

Hamas-terrorists

Nigerian Airstrike Kills Dozens of Villagers Accused of Funding ISIS By Selling Fish

Residents of the Nigerian village of Daban Masara claim dozens of civilians were killed in a Nigerian Air Force strike on Sunday. Some villagers said the strike deliberately targeted a civilian area because the Nigerian government had ordered the local fishing industry to shut down, on the grounds that Islamic State terrorists were profiting from the fishing trade.

Nigerian Air Force planes perfom during a military parade marking the country's 58th anniv

Top U.S. General: ‘We Have Not Relaxed the Rules of Engagement’ in Mosul

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. military has not “relaxed” the rules of engagement (ROE) put in place to avoid civilian casualties in the ongoing fight against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), commonly known for using the home of innocent people as shelter and the inhabitants as shields, the top American commander in the region told lawmakers.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces keep watch in a village east of Mosul, Iraq, May 29, 2016. REUTER

Erik Prince: DOJ Admits Blackwater Contractors Were Caught in Enemy Crossfire

Former Navy SEAL and former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince talked about the United States v. Slatten case currently being argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit. Also known as the “Nisour Square case,” it involves the conviction of former Blackwater contractors who were convicted of criminal offenses related to the shooting of Iraqi civilians in 2007. The contractors are seeking to have their convictions overturned on the grounds that they believed themselves to be under attack.

Blackwater contractors were convicted of criminal offenses related to the shooting of Iraq

Aleppo Cemeteries Run Out of Room for the Dead

A grim milestone in the siege of Aleppo is reported by Sky News, which writes that “bodies are being left to rot on the streets or buried in backyards” because “there is no room left in the cemeteries.”

ALEPPO, SYRIA - JULY 06 : Muslims visit their relatives tombs at martyrdom after they perf

Pentagon Announces Investigation into Syrian Civilian Casualties

On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced that the Pentagon would investigate claims by human-rights organizations – including the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Amnesty International, and the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces – that American airstrikes have killed over 100 civilians since June. Some estimates say the death toll could be closer to double that number.

A Syrian man reacts as rescuers look for victims under the rubble of a collapsed building

UN: Afghan Civilian Suffer Record 11,002 Casualties in 2015

The number of Afghan civilian fatalities and injuries hit 11,002 in 2015, marking the highest number of total civilian casualties since the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) began tracking the data in 2009, officials have announced.

Getty Images

Turkey’s Southeast Ravaged as Turks and Kurdish Separatists Fight On

Hurriyet Daily News offers a remarkable tour of the urban battlefield between Turkey and the PKK, as Turkish tanks and infantry roll through the ruins of the southeastern city of Cizre, a majority-Kurdish city that has long been at the center of the conflict between Kurdish separatists and the Turkish government.

Relative cry after a woman died at her home when a mortar hit it during a clashes at Sur d

U.S. Advocacy Group Claims Russia Bombed Its Syrian Office

A U.S. non-governmental organization called the Syrian Emergency Task Force told Foreign Policy their field office in the Idlib province was hit by a Russian airstrike on Saturday. Other civilian damage in the area has been reported, and the strike is being cited as evidence Russia is not focusing its attention on Islamic State targets, as it frequently claims.

Syrian Emergency Task Force

Impossible Rules of Engagement: ‘Zero Civilian Casualties’ in ISIS Battle

Ever since the weird non-war against ISIS began, we have heard loud boasts from the Obama Administration about how many fabulously expensive airstrikes coalition forces were conducting. And yet, the Islamic State remains on the march in Iraq and Syria, and is confident enough to launch a new campaign for control of devastated post-Obama, post-Clinton Libya.

Iraqi government forces celebrate while holding an al-Qaeda affiliated flag after they cla