The U.S. military launched an investigation Monday into possible civilian casualties in the fatal strikes on suspected terrorists this weekend in Syria.
In a statement released Monday evening, U.S. Central Command said a special operations task force “coordinated” with the White House regarding the precision airstrikes on Sunday and that all responsibilities for targeting in Syria “are classified, and it would be inappropriate to provide details that would compromise the ongoing action.”
“We will also consult with relevant parties and share any findings when appropriate,” Central Command said.
U.S. President Donald Trump put the president in charge of the military chain of command and called the strikes one of the few “major military operations” since he took office in January. It was not clear from the statement why Trump picked U.S. Central Command to oversee the operation.
While Central Command did not mention specific targets, the force said those killed included senior figures from the al Qaeda offshoot known as the Khorasan group, which was allied with Islamic State and was said to be planning to attack Western targets after its Syrian leader was killed earlier this year.
In announcing the strikes Saturday, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said about 40 Islamic State members were killed in a series of airstrikes in the eastern part of Syria and in an artillery and tank attack on the extremist group’s mountain hideouts. The casualties included the leader of the Khorasan group and a bomb maker believed to have trained foreign recruits in Iraq and Syria. Davis said they were fighting for the Islamic State’s predecessor group, al-Qaida in Iraq, now also known as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
He said about 60 Khorasan fighters, mostly U.S. and European jihadists, were killed in the strikes. The U.S. was seeking to strike Khorasan cells with sophisticated drone strikes and airborne missions, and pinpoint and take out command-and-control facilities and facilities that produced improvised explosive devices, Davis said.
The U.S. military estimates that more than 11,000 extremists have been killed by airstrikes in Syria and Iraq in the nearly four years since President Barack Obama declared the end of combat operations in both countries in 2014. But the Washington Post has reported that, despite pledges to eliminate al-Qaida’s leadership in Syria, the Pentagon has had to rely on risky, deadly nighttime raids that have killed as many as 17 fighters, mostly lower-level operatives, and no senior figures.