The Department of Defense on Sunday released its most recent report on civilian casualties resulting from coalition strikes in Operation Inherent Resolve, the US-led mission against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. DOD assessed 28 reports of civilian casualties and found that 45 civilians had died as a result of OIR artillery or airstrikes between November 2016 and March 2017. In addition, DOD announced 80 more civilian deaths related to OIR strikes since the beginning of the campaign in August 2014. The total number of OIR civilian deaths is now 352, the report states, from a total of 20,205 strikes since the beginning of the operation. Forty-two reports of civilian casualties remain open and under investigation by the department.
This year’s Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting buzzed with talk of countering the rapidly evolving drone threat facing the entire U.S. military, including the Air Force. Leaders and defense industry officials discussed the need for new approaches to procurement and employment of a new class of these…
