Drone strikes killed one civilian in 2016, Obama administration says
WASHINGTON — U.S. forces conducted 53 drone strikes against terrorists last year, killing at least 431 enemy combatants and one civilian, according to an intelligence community report released Thursday night.
The annual report was required by President Obama's executive order signed last year, and comes just hours before the end of his term. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to rescind many of Obama's executive orders, so the release of the report appeared timed to get it out before the inauguration on Friday.
One U.S. official, who requested anonymity in order to speak on a sensitive political matter, said the White House called intelligence agencies Thursday to push out the report, saying if it wasn't released now it may never be.
Most of the White House press office had left the administration by Thursday and could not be reached for comment.
The new numbers demonstrate that Obama has ordered at least 526 drone strikes during his presidency — 10 times more than President George W. Bush, according to estimates by non-government organizations.
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The 2016 report was more specific than the one released last year, which covered seven years and estimated 64 to 116 civilian casualties in 473 drone strikes. Those numbers were greeted skeptically by human rights organizations, which estimated 200 to 1,000 civilian casualties.
The Center for Civilians in Conflict said it was disappointed that the report wasn't more detailed, and noted that it falls well short of numbers reported by most independent observers. "They know, better than anybody, how many civilians are actually killed, and it’s important for official figures to match reality," said the center's executive director, Federico Borello.
But he applauded the Obama administration for a step toward transparency and said he hoped the Trump administration will continue those efforts.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which released the report, acknowledged Thursday that there are "differences" between governmental and non-governmental numbers. And the report contained this caveat: "The 2016 figures released today should be considered in light of the inherent limitations on the ability to determine the precise number of combatant and non-combatant deaths given the non-permissive environments in which these strikes often occur."
The numbers also do not include airstrikes in combat zones, which include Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.