Pentagon files reveal flaws in U.S. claims about Syrian casualties in Baghdadi raid

https://www.npr.org/2023/07/21/ [login to see] /pentagon-files-baghdadi-raid-syria-civilian-casualties
Confidential documents obtained by NPR provide new details about one of the most celebrated U.S. military operations in recent history — and reveal flaws in the Pentagon's claim that deadly airstrikes did not hit civilians.

In 2019, U.S. special operations forces raided the Syrian hideout of ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leading him to blow himself up. Then-President Donald Trump called the raid "impeccable," and military officials said troops protected noncombatants.

The U.S. Defense Department dismissed the accounts reported by NPR of U.S. helicopter fire killing and maiming Syrian civilians during the raid. The Pentagon said those men were enemy combatants who ignored warning shots.