U.S. airstrikes in May on suspected Taliban drug facilities killed 39 civilians, the United Nations said Wednesday in a detailed report on the incident.

A United Nations special report, which examines the impact on civilians of United States’ airstrikes on alleged drug-processing facilities on 5 May 2019 in Afghanistan, determines that the operation caused a large number of civilian casualties.

In June 2019, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), together with representatives of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, conducted a site visit to areas impacted by the strikes in Farah province’s Bakwa district, as part of its extensive fact-finding into the 5 May incident.

The UN verified 39 civilian casualties, among them 14 children and one woman, from multiple airstrikes on more than 60 sites that the United States Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A) identified as drug-production facilities in Bakwa district and in parts of the neighboring Delaram district of Nimroz province.

Moreover, the UN is working to verify credible reports of at least 37 additional civilian casualties, the majority of whom were women and children.

The United Nations said under international law facilities that contribute economically or financially to the war effort are considered civilian objectives.

The U.N. report determined strikes on more than 60 sites killed 39 civilians and wounded five. The strikes were carried out in Afghanistan’s western Farah and Nimruz provinces.

ILKHA