(Previous Incident Code: I092)

At least 20 civilians were reported killed and up to 31 injured after Coalition (or possibly Iraqi) aircraft allegedly hit the Sunni Wafq state religious affairs building adjacent to one of the largest mosques in Mosul.

Aircraft reportedly targeted a meeting of senior Islamic State figures at the Waqf site, which has been taken over by ISIS. However most of the dead and injured were at a nearby marketplace. Video footage from Daesh showed destroyed civilian vehicles and market stalls, and chaotic scenes at a nearby hospital.

Citing an eyewitness, NINA reported that “missiles launched by the international coalition aircraft struck the Sunni Waqf headquarters in the Nabi Sheet area, which led to the death of 29 civilians, including women and children, and the wounding of 16 others who were taken to hospital.” Most other sources also blamed the Coalition. However, Sheikh Ragheb Hamid Siraj, a local leader in Mosul, said the attack was the work of an Iraqi aircraft.

At least two children were reported among the dead, including a 7-year old boy who was said to have locked himself in the family car in fear during the attack, only for it to be destroyed.

Three of the victims were later named as Ridwan Ibrahim [pictured below], his brother Abdul Rahman Ibrahim and their father Ibrahim. A young man named as Median Dawood Al Hadeedi [pictured below] was also reportedly killed.

Many casualties were said to be the result of a ‘double tap’ strike, with residents hit as they tried to rescue those injured in a first attack. Mosul Ateka put out an urgent warning: “We ask citizens to stay away from places where bombing is occurring and not to assemble. Nabi Sheet Street is full of bodies because of the heavy shelling that occurred.”

Said Ali Mohammed, who works in the nearby market, told Gulf Online that he was inside his shop at the time, which is located just 500 meters from the Sunni Waqf Directorate building. He described the first explosion as “enormous… while we were preoccupied with tending to neighbors and some of the injured on the street, the second bombing targeted people who had rushed in to help the wounded.”

Ghassan Mossen, who described himself as an eyewitness to the attack, also posted the following on Facebook: “People were moving toward the blast site to search for their friends and relatives. They didn’t listen to appeals to stay away from the area. Even 100 metres away I almost got caught in the second blast, as shrapnel flew over our heads.“

In a January 2016 report the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq referenced the event, noting: “On 29 September, an airstrike was reported to have hit the former Sunni endowment building next to the Ninewa Governorate building, in central Mosul. According to some sources, the attack allegedly killed eight civilians (including two women) in addition to 19 ISIL fighters. Around 10 minutes later, as civilians were gathering in the area, another airstrike allegedly hit the same location, killing 12 civilians (including two children and a woman) and wounding seven, some critically. Other sources reported higher casualty figures.”

In its November 2019 casualty assessment – published on January 2nd 2020 – the Coalition assessed the event to be ‘non credible’, based on current information: “September 29, 2015, in Mosul, Iraq, via Airwars report. After a review of all available records it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties.”

It also provided coordinates to within 100 metres of the geographical area where it had focused its review.