On the same day the Obama administration said it killed 150 militants with airstrikes in Somalia, the White House announced plans to disclose the number of people killed by U.S. drone and other counterterrorism strikes since 2009.
Lisa Monaco, President Obama’s counterterrorism and homeland security adviser, said the assessment will be released “in the coming weeks” and said the figures would be disclosed annually, although it will be up to Mr. Obama’s successor whether or not to continue the reports.
“We know that not only is greater transparency the right thing to do, it is the best way to maintain the legitimacy of our counterterrorism actions and the broad support of our allies,” Ms. Monaco said in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Terrorist combatants and civilians killed in such strikes will be included in the report, but it won’t cover areas of “active hostilities” like Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Instead, the report will focus on terrorist targets in other parts of the world such as North Africa, where U.S. strikes on Saturday killed more than 150 people in Somalia.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the strikes on Saturday were aimed at a militant training camp and that the terrorists were preparing to leave the area.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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