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As the battle against Islamic State intensifies in heavily populated cities, the U.S. military has reexamined the way it reports whether its daily bombing runs over Iraq and Syria are inadvertently killing civilians.

The review, amid mounting criticism from victims and human rights and aid groups about the procedures, found that the military failed to report 80 civilian casualties from airstrikes during the last two years.

Independent reporting suggests there may be more casualties the coalition has overlooked.

For instance, according to the report released Sunday, the coalition found insufficient information to be able to determine if civilians were present or harmed in an airstrike in Iraq on Jan. 17.

In April, The Times visited the site in east Mosuls Baysan neighborhood, saw the leveled home and spoke with survivors who said eight civilians were killed.

Omar Hasan Abdul Qadir, 67, said the eight were all his relatives, including four grandchildren.

We will cooperate with anyone and talk to anyone who wants to talk to us about the incident, he said by phone Sunday, weeping. I would love for them to know what happened to us and how they killed eight members of our family. We have been devastated, devastated.

The U.S. military now says a total of 352 civilians have been killed in airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition since the air war against Islamic State was launched in August 2014 still far fewer than independent monitors estimates.

The new assessment, released as part of a monthly report, reveals the Pentagon is finding it difficult to determine how many innocent people are dying in conflict zones where there are few U.S. troops directing fire from the front lines and commanders rely instead on drone surveillance and reports from allies.

Col. Joe Scrocca, a U.S. military spokesman based in Baghdad, said the commands analysts recognized anomalies after poring over data for several months. He said it led them to reexamine 396 reports of civilian casualties to identify any errors or gaps in reporting.

We've been trying to improve the reporting process by making it more predictable and transparent every month, Scrocca said.

Scrocca said the coalitions two-person team investigating civilian casualties from airstrikes is conservative in its estimates, requiring confirmation from more than one source.

The coalition investigates civilian casualties based on reports from its staff, the news media, social media, local and international monitoring groups. It does not require investigators to visit the scene of strikes, speak with victims or other witnesses.

Coalition warplanes have carried out 20,205 strikes in Iraq and Syria since 2014. The number of civilian casualties has steadily risen in recent months as combat shifted to densely populated west Mosul, where coalition warplanes are dropping more bombs than at any point since the war began.

Before the Mosul offensive launched on Oct. 17, Iraqi officials dropped leaflets and aired television advisories urging residents to stay home rather than flee, promising the military would protect them.

The difficulty of conducting a bombing operation in such an urban environment drew international attention when scores of civilians were killed in a strike on a cluster of buildings in west Mosuls Jadidah neighborhood on March 17.

The Pentagon is still investigating the incident, but Iraqi civil defense officials responsible for removing the bodies said the strike killed more than 270 people.

The Pentagon is increasingly at odds with critics in human rights groups, who say thousands of civilians have been killed in the air campaign.

Airwars, a London-based nonprofit independent monitoring group with a staff of journalists and researchers, said its figures showed at least 3,325 civilians have been killed in 566 strikes.

Iraqi and Syrian civilians continue to pay a high price for their liberation, said Chris Woods, director of Airwars.

Scrocca said the true tally of civilian casualties probably lies somewhere between the coalitions figure and that of Airwars.

Based on interviews with victims, the coalition may not only be lowballing the death toll: It appears to be overlooking and rejecting legitimate claims.

Qadir, the survivor of the Jan. 17 airstrike, said he is still willing to assist the coalition in investigating. I really dont know at all what was the justification to hit the house with many kids and women inside. I do have witnesses that our house was hit, he said.

But Scrocca said the coalition could not find Qadir or other survivors of the strike. All we have is an allegation, no proof or way to interview victims, he said.

The Times also visited a residential compound in west Mosuls Mahata neighborhood, where survivors said a March 13 airstrike killed at least 21 people, including four children, in three houses that were reduced to a heap of crumbling concrete.

Survivors said they had not been contacted by Iraqi or coalition authorities, and the strike was not mentioned in Sundays report. Scrocca said the coalition is investigating.

My house has been destroyed by an airstrike and that is very clear, survivor Shahab Ahmed Aaid, 25, said on Sunday. All my neighbors are witnesses. I want the coalition and U.S. to investigate and be fair about it.

The Times had also spoken with Raed Mohammed Hasan, 30, at his damaged east Mosul home, where he said 11 people were killed by a coalition airstrike Jan. 21, including his 10-month-old daughter, Rania. Mohammed said he heard Islamic State fighters nearby before the strike, but they escaped.

He called for an independent investigation.

We want the United Nations to get involved in the investigation, and we want them to be neutral and fair, Mohammed said.

Scrocca said that airstrike wasnt mentioned in Sundays report because the coalition received the allegation only last month and The Times report included no specific location or contact info for us to follow up on.

The coalition confirmed that a Dec. 11 strike targeting Islamic State fighters in east Mosuls Falah neighborhood killed eight civilians after it ignited a weapons cache, creating secondary explosions and a fatal fire in the victims home across the street. The coalition made no mention of the strikes sole survivors: Mohammed Mumtaz, 30, and his 8-year-old son, Yaman. Mumtaz said he was not contacted by the coalition, and did not expect compensation.

Nothing can compensate for my loss, said Mumtaz, a pharmacist who lost his wife, parents, two brothers, sister-in-law and two nephews.

U.S. forces have blamed Islamic State, also known as ISIS, for packing buildings full of civilians and stationing snipers on the roofs in what may be an effort to lure airstrikes and cause civilian casualties.

Sundays report confirmed that eight civilians were mistakenly killed and a dozen injured on Nov. 17 in east Mosuls Aden neighborhood by a strike meant to hit Islamic State fighters.

Victims included Imad Jasims brother, two sons, four nephews and an unborn niece. His mother suffered burns to her scalp and back. His 40-year-old sisters legs were broken and she still cannot walk.

The way they are targeting ISIS is wrong: They will target one ISIS militant and as a result many civilians will die, Jasim, 30, said Sunday.

An unemployed taxi driver, he is trying to get his injured relatives treated, but said no one will lend him the money.

The coalition does not have a system for victims to appeal for compensation, although Scrocca said that payments may be offered as a token of sympathy and regret. They can only be offered if we have sufficient information on victims, which we rarely are given.

Hennessy-Fiske reported from Cairo and Hennigan from Washington. Special correspondent Wael Resol in Irbil, Iraq, contributed to this report.

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

william.hennigan@latimes.com

Twitter: @mollyhf, @wjhenn

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US reconsiders its responsibility for civilian casualties in Iraq and Syria - Los Angeles Times

The United Nations says a group of 36 Yazidis have been rescued in Iraq after three years of "slavery" under the rule of the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.

UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq Lise Grande said that since April 28, when they were rescued, the women and girls from the group had been receiving lodging, clothing, medical, and psychological aid in Duhok, a Kurdish city north of Mosul.

Thousands of Yazidi women and girls were abducted, tortured, and sexually abused by IS fighters after the militants rounded up Yazidis around the town of Sinjar in northwestern Iraq in 2014.

While some have escaped, as many as 3,500 remain in captivity.

The Yazidi faith has elements of Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Islam. The IS group considers them "devil worshippers."

Most of the Yazidi population, numbering around half a million, remains displaced in camps inside the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.

Based on reporting by Reuters and dpa

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Group Of 36 Yazidis Rescued From IS In Iraq - Radio Free Europe - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

Rising U.S. production is holding oil prices down.(Photo: Getty Images)

The price of U.S. crude oil continued its tumble Tuesday as investors remain concerned about a global glut and developments in the Middle East that could add to the current supply.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil, the U.S. benchmark, fell 76 cents a barrel to $48.08, and is down 5.2% in the last month.

Brent crude oil, the benchmark for international oils, declined 51 cents a barrel to $51.01, its lowest since Nov. 29.

Signs that Libya is ramping up production may have spooked investors, says Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service. Theres perception that oversupply is still a problem with Libya now able to produce around 750,000 barrels per day of crude, Kloza says, adding that's 250,000 more than what the country was producing recently.

Oil price falls below $50 as U.S. supplies hit record

Libyas production had been troubled by political unrest and fighting among militias and terrorist groups. But leaders of the two main factions in Libya have reached an agreement to set up a power-sharing presidential council, triggering hopes of political stability in the country, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.

Libyas been a wild card because of chaos there, Kloza says. Its production ramp-up means more oil in the market.

Meanwhile, U.S. shale production continues to grow, contributing to the bountiful crude inventories in the U.S.

Oil traders were also paying attention to the remarks by made Saudi Arabia's deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman,in a Saudi TV interview,in which he indicated that the countrys austerity measures could continue if oil prices dropped further. He made some comments that were not really supportive of the market, Kloza says.

The market has been much weaker than what most investors would like it to be, Kloza says.

In November, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil-producing nations agreed to cut back on production for much of 2017 to boost prices. The move has helped to stabilize prices, and investors expect their agreement will be extended when OPEC countries meet later this month.

"The cuts have not meaningfully resulted in visibly lower crude oil inventories, especially in the U.S.," said Brian Kessens, Tortoise Capital'smanaging director and portfolio manager, in its podcast Monday.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Roger Yu on Twitter @ByRogerYu.

Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2qvKnCN

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Oil price falls on Libya, supply glut - USA TODAY

Since 2011, Libya has become a hot spot of illicit weapons sales, manyof which occur through messaging applications and social media networks, according to a report released Tuesday.

The report which tracks more than 1,300 attempted online sales from 2014 to 2015 was published by the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, and uses data collected and analyzedby the group Armament Research Services. Although its authors say that the data set is only a small fractionof illicit arms sales in Libya, the report highlights trends in the growingtrade.

Weapons from 26 countries, including the United States, China, Belgium and Turkey, were found in the 1,346 tracked sales, according to the report. Although most of the small arms were for self-defense and sporting purposes, some of the people involved in the transfers had ties to Libyan militia groups.

[Who in Libya will the U.S. send weapons to? Its complicated, says a top general.]

Whilst online trades appear to account for only a small portion of the illicit arms trade in Libya, their relative anonymity, low barrier to entry, and distributed nature are likely to pose unique challenges to law enforcement and embargo monitoring operations, Nic Jenzen-Jones, the director ofArmament Research Services, said in an email.

Last year, using the preliminary data from parts of this Small Arms Surveyworking paper, the New York Times reported that militant groups and terrorists were using social media networks such as Facebook to traffic weapons from small arms to antiaircraft missiles in Libya, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Facebooks policy toward weapon transfers appears to be unchanged since that article. The social media company prohibits arms sales but requires users to self-report pagesinvolved in the transfers. Because many groups are secret or closed to the public, the pages often gather thousands of members and operate for months before being shut down.

Facebook did not respond to a request for comment.

The groups often make little effort to conceal the nature of their pages, according to the report, using pictures of weapons and names such as the now-removedLibyan Firearms Market. When a group is shut down, the report says, its core membership often starts another page and quickly resume trading.

The trades documented in the report are made mostly from individual sellers, although some of them are online extensions of physical arms bazaars in Libya. The report aside from monitoring the groups also draws on interviews from eight confidential sources that provide a samplingof the type of Libyans involved in the illicit arms market. Seven of them are younger than 35 and most are using the arms sales to supplement their incomes. At least one is selling weapons primarily Belgianhandguns to help pay for his education.

An engineer living in the suburbs of Tripoli and quoted in the report as Confidential Source 7 told the papersauthors that aside from the online market, weaponsare easy to get regardless of Internet connection.

With just a few phone calls, you can get a firearm starting from a 9mm to a rifle, the source said.

From 1992 to 2003, Libya was under a strict United Nations arms embargo following the countrys suspected involvement in the 1988 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, and the downing of a French airliner over Niger in 1989. According to the report, most of the weapons documented in the online trades are from the preembargo era, however some including potential covert arms supplied toMoammar Gaddafis regime also have appeared in social media groups.

[U.S. and allies ready to help arm Libyan forces against Islamic State]

Handguns, according to the report, were prevalentin the data because of Libyans desire to own concealableweapons. The report, however, stipulates that the pistols weredisproportionately represented in comparison with the majority of weapons on the Libyan small-arms market. More than 60 percentof the self-loading rifles documented were Kalashnikov variants, while 14 percent were Belgian-made FAL rifles.

The report documents three French MILAN antitank missiles, probably from a 2007 contract to Gaddafi, that were for sale online. Additionally, two German Heckler and Koch rifles, called G36s, appeared in the reports data. The serial numbers on the rifles have been removed and replaced with a numeric sequencethat doesnot match the manufacturers format and, according to Heckler and Koch, the company never shipped weapons of any type to Libya under Gaddafi.

After the Libyan revolution and NATOs intervention in 2011, the tightly controlled weapons stores of the Gaddafi regime were looted and the region was flooded withtens of thousands of small arms, including shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. Aside from showing up on online arms markets, the weapons have appeared in conflict zones across the Middle East and northern Africa.

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Five years after uprising, Western nations prepare to intervene again in Libya

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Libya has become a hub for online arms trading, report says - Washington Post

By Ayman al-Warfalli | BENGHAZI, Libya

BENGHAZI, Libya Libya's eastern military commander met the head of its U.N.-backed government on Tuesday, ending a 16-month standoff that has undermined diplomatic efforts to unify a country riven by factional fighting since 2011.

Having previously spurned invitations to engage with the government, Khalifa Haftar held talks with Fayez Seraj in Abu Dhabi that one source close to Haftar said produced an agreement to hold elections early next year.

Regional and Western powers have for months been pushing the two men to discuss resetting a U.N.-mediated agreement that led to the creation of Seraj's Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli. The deal was an attempt to end the turmoil that followed the 2011 uprising against Muammar Gaddafi.

Haftar is the dominant figure for factions in eastern Libya that have rejected the GNA, contributing to its failure to expand its power in Tripoli and beyond. Rival armed factions in the west of the country have backed the government.

Tuesday's meeting could be a step toward ending a stalemate between competing loose alliances that pushed the country into open warfare in 2014. But any lasting deal would need backing from the numerous and powerful armed groups that have scuppered previous attempts to stabilize the oil-rich country.

There was no official statement as Tuesday's meeting ended, or comment from the GNA side.

Sources close to Haftar said he met Seraj one-on-one for two hours of talks they described as positive.

One sticking point has been a clause in the U.N.-mediated deal giving the GNA's leadership immediate control over military appointments, which eastern factions fear will weaken Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA).

Libya's 218 channel, a pro-Haftar TV station, said they had agreed to propose cancelling the clause, and to form a restructured unity government.

"It was agreed to open permanent channels of communication and to form two working groups to complete an agreement on the details of the formation of a government and the military arrangements between officers from all regions," one source close to Haftar in Abu Dhabi who asked not to be named told Reuters.

There was also an agreement to hold presidential and parliamentary elections no later than March 2018, the source said.

DIVISIVE FIGURE

It was the first time Seraj and Haftar had met since the start of last year.

An expected meeting in Cairo in February fell through, though a roadmap for eastern and western parliamentary delegations to revive a peace process was agreed.

Haftar, a former Gaddafi ally, is a divisive figure who opponents suspect of seeking to return the country to authoritarian rule.

With backing from foreign powers including Egypt, the UAE and Russia, he has gained ground militarily since last year, taking control of several key oil ports and advancing in a long campaign against Islamist-led rivals in Benghazi, Libya's second city.

Haftar has also indicated that he expected to take Tripoli, though many observers doubt he has the capacity to do so.

As the LNA and its allies have pushed west in recent months, they have clashed repeatedly with GNA-aligned opponents around the oil ports and in the southern desert regions of Sabha and Jufra.

Haftar and his supporters have previously rejected the GNA because they say it is beholden to the militias that hold sway in Tripoli and the rest of western Libya.

(Writing by Aidan Lewis; editing by Patrick Markey and John Stonestreet)

PARIS France's presidential rivals, centrist Emmanuel Macron and the far-right's Marine Le Pen, go head-to-head on Wednesday in a televised debate in which sparks are sure to fly as they fight their corner in a last encounter before Sunday's runoff vote.

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday moved to ease the tension from U.S. air strikes in April against Russian ally Syria, expressing a desire for a Syrian ceasefire and safe zones for the civil war's refugees.

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Rival Libyan kingpins break the ice in Abu Dhabi | Reuters - Reuters