据美国《纽约时报》13日报道，2019年美军在叙利亚发动的一场空袭行动可能触犯了战争罪。这场声称针对伊斯兰国的行动却造成64名妇女和儿童死亡，而美军却掩盖了这一消息。



 
The U.S. military covered up 2019 airstrikes in Syria that killed up to 64 women and children, a possible war crime, during the battle against Islamic State, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

美媒：美军知晓空袭却隐瞒

报道称，在两次针对叙利亚Baghuz附近地区的连续空袭行动中，美军派出了机密级别的特殊作战单元，另有地面作战相配合。

The two back-to-back airstrikes near the town of Baghuz were ordered by a classified American special operations unit tasked with ground operations in Syria, according to the report.

报道中还原了发生在2019年3月18日的一次空袭：当时美军无人机正在该地上空盘旋，寻找军事目标，却只发现一大群妇女儿童。然而此时，F15战斗机在没有任何警示的情况下，向人群投下一枚有500磅炸药的的炸弹，爆炸随即将人群吞没。浓烟散去后，部分幸存者寻找掩体躲避。随后又有飞机先后投下两枚有2000磅炸药的炸弹，几乎无人生还。据在美军卡塔尔基地的官员回忆，当时从无人机捕捉到的画面上看到这一切，让人目瞪口呆。



当时有美军在内部线路中发问空袭为何人所为，还有人回复“我们刚刚朝50多个妇女儿童扔了炸弹”……最初的战损评估很快发现，死亡人数大约为70人。
 


《纽约时报》报道称，这场空袭是美军针对伊斯兰国战争中造成的最大规模平民死亡事件之一，但是美军在获悉后却从未公开。当时，军方很快得知了死亡人数。有法律方面的官员指出此举可能涉嫌战争罪行为，需要进行调查。然而，随后的每一步中，军方都做了“安排”，包括掩盖灾难性的空袭、降低死亡人数等。相关报道被延后、“净化”、列为机密。美国为首的联合部队推平了爆炸地点，而最高级别的领导人并不知情。美国防部有关部门曾开启独立调查，然而调查发现的汇报却被停滞并抹去任何有关空袭的内容。



路透社等外媒随即转载了《纽约时报》的相关报道
 


美军：系合法自卫

13日，美军中央司令部发布声明，重申他们提供给《纽约时报》的空袭死亡人数为80人，其中包括16名伊斯兰国士兵和4名平民。军方表示，尚不清楚其余60人是否为平民，因为妇女和儿童也可能是战斗人员。

In a statement on Saturday, U.S. Central Command reiterated the account it gave the newspaper that 80 people were killed in the strikes including 16 Islamic State fighters and four civilians. The military said it was unclear if the other 60 people were civilians, partly because women and children could have been combatants.

在声明中，军方称空袭为“合法自卫”，并且也已经采取了“合适的行为避免平民伤亡。”

In Saturday's statement, the military said the strikes were "legitimate self-defense," proportional and that "appropriate steps were taken to rule out the presence of civilians."

美军方表示，这60名死者身份难以确定，是因为在视频中“观察到多名妇女和至少一名儿童持有武装”，并且还称这60人中的大部分都有可能是战斗人员。

The number of civilians among the 60 fatalities could not be determined because "multiple armed women and at least one armed child were observed" in video of the events, it said, adding that the majority of the 60 were likely combatants.

《纽约时报》方面则表示，其报道来自涉密文件、机密报告的说明，以及对直接相关人员的采访。报道中还写道，当时在场目睹空袭视频的空军律师认为，相关行动可能涉嫌犯下战争罪，他随后还提醒了美国防部的调查部门以及美国参议院军事委员会，然而这两方面也没采取任何行动。

The newspaper said its report was based on confidential documents and descriptions of classified reports, as well as interviews with personnel directly involved. An Air Force lawyer present in the operations center at the time believed the strikes were possible war crimes and later alerted the Defense Department's inspector general and the Senate Armed Services Committee when no action was taken, the Times said.

空袭两年后，律师发现监管部门依然没有行动，他给参议院军事委员会写了邮件，并告知其拥有最高机密，还补充写道：“因为发送这封邮件，我正把自己置于面临军事报复的巨大危险之中。”

Two years after the strike, seeing no evidence that the watchdog agency was taking action, the lawyer emailed the Senate Armed Services Committee, telling its staff that he had top secret material to discuss and adding, “I’m putting myself at great risk of military retaliation for sending this.”

综合来源：路透社，纽约时报，观察者网，CGTN