U.S. military covers up civilian killings to escape punishment: Syrian experts

STORY: U.S. military covers up civilian killings to escape punishment: Syrian experts DATELINE: May 25, 2022 LENGTH: 00:03:42 LOCATION: Damascus CATEGORY: POLITICS SHOTLIST: 1. SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): HUSSAM SHOAIB, Syrian political expert 2. SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): MOHAMMAD AL-OMARI, Syrian political expert STORYLINE: During its controversial war on terror in Syria, the U.S. military killed a big number of civilians and has ever since tried to cover up the crimes in order to escape with impunity, Syrian experts have said. In a 2019 airstrike near the town of Baghouz in Syria's eastern Deir al-Zour province, a total of 80 people were killed, 64 of whom were believed to be civilians including women and children, in one of the largest civilian casualty incidents in the U.S. war against the Islamic State (IS). However, the killing of civilians in the attack was first exposed by The New York Times in last November, prompting a U.S. internal probe by the Pentagon, which concluded last week that most of the kil