War of annihilation
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“WAR OF ANNIHILATION” DEVASTATING TOLL ON CIVILIANS, RAQQA – SYRIA
Amnesty International 49 Coalition partner with artillery capacity during the battle for Raqqa and was therefore responsible for all artillery strikes into the city. Despite a Coalition made up of over 70 nations, the only countries to conduct air strikes on and around Raqqa were the USA, Britain and France. The Coalition launched tens of thousands of strikes on Raqqa during the military campaign. 89 Of these, more than 4,000 were air strikes, 90 almost all of them carried out by US forces. British forces carried out some 215 air strikes, 91
while the French military was responsible for some 50 air strikes. 92 with the overwhelming majority – more than 90% – carried out by US piloted aircraft and drones. No other members of the Coalition are known to have carried out air strikes in Raqqa. At the same time, US Marines launched tens of thousands artillery shells into and around Raqqa. The SDF provided the ground troops needed to push into the city on foot. They were armed with assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), and 120mm mortars, provided by the US. 93 They have no air power and are not known to have had artillery capacity during the Raqqa military operation. While Coalition forces operated mostly from positions several kilometres outside the city, a small number of special operation forces from Coalition member states – notably the US, UK and France – operated alongside the SDF close to front line position in/around the city, reportedly mostly in an advisory rather than combat role. 94
percentage of the Coalition air and artillery strikes were carried out based on co-ordinates provided by the SDF – as opposed to strikes on targets identified by Coalition forces themselves through air surveillance or other means – and the extent to which Coalition forces verified targets identified by the SDF prior to launching strikes on those targets.
89 Per CJTF-OIR methodology, strikes are carried out by “fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing, or remotely piloted aircraft, rocket propelled artillery and ground-based tactical artillery,” and are defined as “one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative effect in that location. For example, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound”, see: CJTF-OIR, Release 20171211-01, 11 December 2017, available at http://www.inherentresolve.mil/Portals/14/12Dec2017/20171211%20Strike%20Release.pdf?ver=2017-12-11-033135-847 90 According to estimates by Airwars, based upon sorties/munitions statistics provided by AFCENT. See, for example, “They’re still pulling the bodies out of ISIS’ capital” by Samuel Oakford, in the Daily Beast, 12 March 2018, available at https://www.thedailybeast.com/theyre- still-pulling-bodies-out-of-isis-capital?ref=author and http://www.afcent.af.mil/Portals/82/Documents/Airpower%20summary/Airpower%20Summary%20-%20October%202017.pdf?ver=2017- 11-21-034338-127 and http://www.afcent.af.mil/Portals/82/Documents/Airpower%20summary/Airpower%20Summary%20- %20August%202017.pdf?ver=2017-09-07-104037-223 91 Information about the strikes carried out by British forces, published by the British Ministry of Defence, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/british-forces-air-strikes-in-iraq-monthly-list. 92 Information about the strikes carried out by French forces, published by the French Ministère des Armées, available at https://www.facebook.com/notes/arm%C3%A9e-fran%C3%A7aise-op%C3%A9rations-militaires/point-de-situation-des- op%C3%A9rations/1434337239945330/
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confirmed to Amnesty International that they were using mostly US-supplied mortars. Also see: “They’re still pulling the bodies out of ISIS’ capital” by airwars.org’s Samuel Oakford, 12 March 2018, the Daily Beast, available at https://www.thedailybeast.com/theyre-still-pulling- bodies-out-of-isis-capital?ref=author. 94 “Coalition SOF are in Raqqa, and they are close to the front lines,” said Col. Ryan Dillon, a spokesperson for the U.S.-led coalition battling ISIS in Syria and Iraq, in “Boots on the ground: Elite U.S. troops are in Raqqa near the Islamic State's front line”, Military Times, 9 June 2017, available at https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2017/06/09/boots-on-the-ground-elite-u-s-troops-are-in-raqqa- near-the-islamic-state-s-front-line/ “SAS soldiers, who have been working with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria, are understood to be on the ground in a supporting role”, in “SAS helps launch dawn assault in final battle to capture Raqqa”, The Times, 7 June 2017, available at https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sas-help-launch-dawn-assault-as-final-push-on-raqqa-begins-9fg5fz385 “Syrie: Sylvie Goulard confirme la présence de forces spéciales françaises”, Europe1, 26 May 2017, available at http://www.europe1.fr/politique/sylvie-goulard-nous-avons-des-forces-speciales-en-syrie-3341933 Yüklə 5,63 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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