Up to 116 civilians killed in US air and drone strikes

Up to 116 civilians were killed in controversial drone and air strikes by the US outside conflict zones like Afghanistan and Iraq from 2009 to 2015, intelligence officials have announced in a long-awaited report.

According to figures released by Director of National Intelligence, an estimated 2372 to 2581 militants were killed in 473 drone strikes during the same period.

President Barack Obama also issued an executive order asking agencies to "maintain and promote best practices that reduce the likelihood of civilian casualties, take appropriate steps when such casualties occur, and draw lessons from our operations to further enhance the protection of civilians."

The protection of civilians is fundamentally consistent with the effective, efficient, and decisive use of force in pursuit of US national interests, Obama said in his executive order.

White House Press Secretary, Josh Earnest, said the President believes these steps would be useful in ensuring the counter-terrorism strategy that he has put in place.

"The President believes that our counter-terrorism strategy is more effective and has more credibility when we're as transparent as possible. There are obviously limitations for transparency when it comes to matters as sensitive as this," Earnest told reporters at a news conference.

"But the fact is, these operations that will be the substance of an announcement today, are the kinds of operations that just a couple of years ago we wouldn't even confirm existed," he said. This, he said, was an "indication of how far they had come."

"In doing so that may mean that there will be a little bit of negative press coverage in the short term but over the long term it will build the kind of credibility that is critical to the ongoing success of these efforts," he said.

He further added that the United States goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties.