and French forces bombarded it in 2017.

The military campaign was successful in pushing out

ISIS terrorists, and Raqqa was seen as a critical victory.

But at what cost?

In addition to taking out ISIS fighters,

the bombardments also killed hundreds of civilians.

The U.S. and its coalition allies

have failed to acknowledge the extent of the civilian losses

they caused and to provide the help residents desperately

need.

This causes grievances which can create fertile recruiting

ground for extremists.

U.S. soldiers said that they used more artillery

here in Raqqa than anywhere else since the Vietnam War.

That is not something to be proud of.

My name is Donatella Rivera.

I’m a crisis investigator with Amnesty International,

and I’ve been doing this work for more than 20 years.

What I have found here is startling.

More than 1,600 civilians were killed

in the military operation here in Raqqa.

Until today, the U.K., U.S., and French militaries

have only acknowledged 180 civilian casualties.

We’ve been able to visit 200 sites

and to interview 400 survivors and witnesses.

But that’s only part of it.

What is necessary to establish the full scale of what

has happened here is for the U.S., the U.K.

and French military to carry out a full investigation so

that lessons can be learned.

Quite clearly, if so many civilians were killed,

something has gone terribly wrong.

President Trump has said that he

intends to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria and Iraq soon.

However, neither the U.S. nor its allies

have announced any concrete plan

to provide the necessary help and reparation and relief

to stabilize this city.

The death of so many civilians,

the lack of help for survivors,

and a total lack of accountability

are all excellent recruiting tools for ISIS.

The Western forces need to commit

to investigating what happened during the military campaign

they carried out here in Raqqa.

That is their responsibility.

After all, if they had the resources for the war,

they must have the resources for the consequences

of the war.