Conflict

U.S.-led Coalition in Iraq & Syria

Incident Code

CI440

Location

Mosul: West, Nineveh, Iraq

Geolocation

36.332586, 43.1388688
Accuracy: Neighbourhood/area

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: December 15, 2024

(Previous Incident Code: I371)

There were claims that up to 34 civilians died and 20 or more were injured following Coalition or Iraqi strikes on western Mosul.

The Iraqi Spring Media Center reported that airstrikes had targeted residential neighborhoods and killed 32 people, including women and children. Yaqein news also put the death toll at 32.

Shebab newsagency said that “33 people were killed, including women and children, when an airstrike targeted the west of Mosul amid intensified fighting between, on the one hand,  Iraqi forces and the militia collaborating with them, and ISIL on the other hand, on the edge of the Tigris River in the city centre.”

Al Rawed posted an Al A’Amaq [ISIL propaganda] video showing “the damage left behind by US aircraft [as it] bombed residential areas on the left side of the city of Mosul”. The witness in the video said that two civilian houses and a wool factory had just been targeted by a US missile.

The Coalition announced on March 4th that it was conducting an assessment into an event on Mosul for January 26th.

A UN report on the protection of civilians in context of Nineveh operations and the retaking of Mosul stated: ‘In the evening of 26 January, 27 women and children were reportedly killed and 11 other civilians, including four children and one woman, were wounded in an airstrike targeting an ISIL compound in the Qasir al-Mitran neighbourhood of western Mosul.’

In July 2019 the Coalition announced that it had classed this allegation of civilian harm as non-credible. Their monthly civilian casualty report noted “After a review of all available records it was determined that, more likely than not, civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition action.”

Key Information

Country
Military Actor
Civilian Harm Reported
Yes
Civilian Harm Status
Contested
Civilians reported killed
27–32
2 Children, 2 Women
Civilians reported injured
5–20

Military Statements

U.S.-led Coalition Assessment
Suspected belligerent
U.S.-led Coalition
U.S.-led Coalition position on incident
Non credible / Unsubstantiated
Reason for non-credible assessment
Other
Civilian deaths conceded
None
Civilian injuries conceded
None
Stated location
in Western Mosul, Iraq
Location accuracy
100 m
MGRS coordinate
38SLF311230
U.S.-led Coalition Strike Report
For January 25th-26th the Coalition publicly noted: “Near Mosul, three strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units; destroyed three mortar systems and two watercraft; and suppressed an ISIL tactical unit. For January 26th-27th it noted: “Near Mosul, five strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units; destroyed two ISIL headquarters, twoVBIED facilities, two barges, a fighting position, a tactical vehicle, a VBIED, and an anti-air artillery system; and suppressed an ISIL tactical unit.”
U.S.-led Coalition Civilian Casualty Statement
2019-07-26
Original Source
Jan. 26, 2017, in Western Mosul, Iraq, via Airwars report. After a review of all available records it wasdetermined that, more likely than not, civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition action.