According to CFR researchers, who conducted the study, this estimate is even "undoubtedly low” given limitations on available government data.

The countries targeted last year were Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan, an increase from the six bombed by the United states in 2015. The number of bombs dropped also rose, with at least 23,144 bombs dropped the year before.

The majority of the bombs were dropped in Iraq and Syria, followed by Afghanistan, where the so-called War on Terror has ravaged the region since 2001.

Another 496 bombs were dropped by the U.S. in Libya, where the United States began an air campaign to oust the Islamic State group, who along with other extremist groups, filled the void when NATO carried out a regime change operation that toppled the country’s leader Muammar Gaddafi.

2016 also saw the continuance of drone strikes carried out in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan, where the United States has carried out covert drone wars for years, resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths.

Source-teleSUR English