Shafaq News / Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday ordered his staff to quickly develop an “action plan” for improving how the Pentagon limits and responds to civilian casualties caused by American airstrikes. He called protection of civilians vital to U.S. military success and a “moral imperative.”

Austin said in a memo to senior civilian and military officials that he wants the plan to reach his office within 90 days. He said it should outline steps the Pentagon will take, and the resources it will require, to implement recommendations from previous studies of the problem.

Austin acted following a wave of criticism of the Pentagon for an airstrike in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 29, 2021, that it initially termed a valid attack, despite 10 civilian deaths, but later acknowledged was a mistake in which the targeted individual turned out to not to be a militant, as first claimed by U.S. Central Command and Pentagon officials.

Austin also ordered the establishment of a “civilian protection center of excellence” to institutionalize improvements in this area.

“The protection of civilians is fundamentally consistent with the effective, efficient and decisive use of force in pursuit of U.S. national interests, and our efforts to mitigate and respond to civilian harm are a direct reflection of U.S. values,” Austin said in the memo. “It is a strategic and a moral imperative.”

Source:Time