U.S. Counts Drone Kills and Comes Up Short, Rights Groups Say
- Government says as many as 116 civilians killed in air strikes
- Human rights groups say the actual number is far higher
President Barack Obama walks across the South Lawn before boarding Marine One and departing the White House on June 3, 2016, in Washington.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesU.S. military and intelligence agencies have killed as many as 116 civilians in clandestine air strikes on terrorists and militants since President Barack Obama took office, the White House said on Friday in its first accounting of non-combatant deaths.
Obama ordered U.S. agencies to avoid harming civilians in strikes on terrorists, and said the government would annually report the number of strikes it undertakes and casualty estimates for both civilians and combatants. The White House’s figures were questioned by human rights groups, who said independent assessments had identified many more civilian deaths in the drone campaign.