Amnesty International on Monday condemned the US-led coalition's failure to acknowlege and investigate its role in civilian killings during the battle a year ago to oust ISIS from Syria's Raqqa.
In October last year, a Kurdish-Arab alliance pushed the extremist group out of the northern city, backed by air strikes of the US-led coalition.
During the campaign to expel ISIS, hundreds of civilians were killed in the battle, most of them in coalition bombardments, Amnesty says.
"The US-led coalition's ongoing failure to admit to, let alone adequately investigate, the shocking scale of civilian deaths and destruction it caused in Raqqa is a slap in the face for survivors," the London-based group said in a statement.
One year on, Amnesty says that the coalition had admitted to having caused just 100 civilians deaths in the Raqqa assault, but even in those cases accepted no liability.
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Read more:
Spate of mystery killings add to insecurity for Raqqa residents still living in fear
Raqqa has been liberated but ISIS fighters still lurk
US coalition airstrikes in Syria kill over 3,000 civilians: monitoring group
The ‘crazy club’: Inside the British propaganda trips that seek to legitimise Assad's barbarism
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"It is completely reprehensible that the coalition refuses to acknowledge its role in most of the civilian casualties it caused," Amnesty's new secretary-general Kumi Naidoo said.
And it is "abhorrent that even where it has admitted responsibility, it accepts no obligation towards its victims".
Denouncing a "disturbing pattern" of civilian deaths, the rights groups urged the coalition to conduct a probe, both to establish the facts behind each deadly strike, and to avoid any future mistakes.
"Surely, with hundreds of civilians dead, it begs the question what went wrong," Mr Naidoo said, urging the coalition to look into issues such as weapons used and quality of intelligence.
"These are crucial details, to establish both facts and assess lawfulness, as well as learn the lessons necessary to avoid similar mistakes," he said.
The latter was "fundamental to minimising harm to civilians - a legal obligation", he said.
ISIS overran large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014, declaring a so-called "caliphate" there, and the coalition intervened the same year to fight the extremist group.
The fighters have since seen their proto-state crumble, but cling on to a presence in the Syrian desert and in an eastern pocket near the Iraqi border where they are under attack by coalition-backed forces.
Since 2014 the US-led coalition has acknowledged direct responsibility for more than 1,100 civilian deaths in Syria and Iraq, but rights groups put the number killed much higher.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, says coalition strikes in Syria alone have killed more than 3,300 civilians.
Syria's war has killed more than 360,000 people since it erupted in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
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Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
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Rating: 4/5
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Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
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Top 10 most polluted cities
- Bhiwadi, India
- Ghaziabad, India
- Hotan, China
- Delhi, India
- Jaunpur, India
- Faisalabad, Pakistan
- Noida, India
- Bahawalpur, Pakistan
- Peshawar, Pakistan
- Bagpat, India
Du Plessis plans his retirement
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said on Friday the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in two years' time will be his last.
Du Plessis, 34, who has led his country in two World T20 campaigns, in 2014 and 2016, is keen to play a third but will then step aside.
"The T20 World Cup in 2020 is something I'm really looking forward to. I think right now that will probably be the last tournament for me," he said in Brisbane ahead of a one-off T20 against Australia on Saturday.
Sunday's Super Four matches
Dubai, 3.30pm
India v Pakistan
Abu Dhabi, 3.30pm
Bangladesh v Afghanistan
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Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
Six things you need to know about UAE Women’s Special Olympics football team
Several girls started playing football at age four
They describe sport as their passion
The girls don’t dwell on their condition
They just say they may need to work a little harder than others
When not in training, they play football with their brothers and sisters
The girls want to inspire others to join the UAE Special Olympics teams
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding