WASHINGTON, July 1 (Xinhua) -- The White House announced on Friday that between 64 and 116 civilians were killed in U.S. strikes outside areas of active war zones from 2009 to 2015.

In its first public assessment of civilian casualties of U.S. counterterrorism strikes, the White House said in a summary released on Friday that as many as 473 U.S. strikes were conducted in Pakistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and North Africa.

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria were not included in the summary.

Few details were offered about the strikes and the people who were killed, provoking criticism from human rights groups which called for more transparency of the U.S. counterterrorism strikes, especially the U.S. drone program.

The drone war initiated in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attacks by former U.S. President George W. Bush, continues to be one of the Obama administration's trump cards.

According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a British non-profit, the Obama administration conducted its first drone strikes shortly after Obama began its presidency in 2009. Although there were reports of alleged "militants" killed, said the group, at least 14 civilians were also killed that day.

Up till Friday, the U.S. government had kept almost all information relevant to its drone attacks classified.