[JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] on Thursday demanded [press release] that the US “come clean” about the civilian deaths resulting from US airstrikes in Syria over the last two years. Stating that it believes that the US has failed to take necessary precautions, AI contended that the US “Coalition forces failed to take adequate precautions to minimize harm to civilians and damage to civilian objects. Some of these attacks may constitute disproportionate or otherwise indiscriminate attacks.” AI believes that the single deadliest attack was the July 19 attack on al-Tukhar.

The conflict in Syria [JURIST backgrounder] has continued for five years in a civil war surrounding the legitimacy of Bashar al-Assad. Last month Russian officials stated [JURIST report] that a US-led airstrike that killed Syrian troops could threaten the ceasefire agreed upon between Syrian and opposition forces. In August a top UN official submitted a report detailing an in-depth investigation into chemical warfare [JURIST report] used by Islamic State and Assad in Syria. That same month AI said that a suspected chlorine gas attack in Aleppo could amount to a war crime [JURIST report]. In July Human Rights Watch reported [JURIST report] cluster bombs have been targeted at civilians and rebels in Northern Syria. In June UN human rights experts called for the immediate protection [JURIST report] of thousands of Syrian civilians.