UNCHECKED

Trump Ends U.S. Report on Civilian Deaths in Drone Strikes

The executive order cancels a requirement to assess the deaths of combatants and civilians hit by drones outside war zones.

President Trump has ended the requirement to publish an annual report on civilian deaths from drone strikes. The executive order cancels a requirement for the Director of National Intelligence to release an unclassified report on May 1 every year detailing strikes against terrorist targets outside of war zones. The three-year-old requirement also ensured that the deaths of combatants and civilians outside war zones are assessed. Last year, the Trump administration ignored the requirement altogether. The official cancelation takes that inaction a step further. Trump has launched some 238 drone strikes in the pivotal undeclared battlefields of Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan since November 2018. The executive order will not affect an unclassified report detailing civilian casualties sent by the secretary of defense every year, also on May 1.

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