WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The report by the Defense Department inspector general, disclosed under a Freedom of Information Act request, said spy drones on US non-military missions occurred less than 20 times between 2006 and 2015 and in compliance with law, USA Today reported.
The US drone program has remained a point of contention for lawyers and human rights advocates since its inception.
The US military has increasingly relied on drones to conduct operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Syria and Iraq. Critics have slammed the practice for killing a significant number of civilians and destroying infrastructure unrelated to terrorists.
Data collected by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism shows that US drone strikes have killed up to 1,000 civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen over the past 10 years.
