Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CI391

Incident date

January 5, 2017

Location

حي الميثاق, Mosul, Al-Mithaq, Nineveh, Iraq

Geolocation

36.3260517, 43.2006454 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Five members of the same family were killed when a Coalition airstrike hit a house in Al Mithaq, according to local sources.

Sualif Maslawiah Aneefa posted that five members of Khalid Mustafa Abu Wadah’s family were killed when bombs struck his home as ISIL fighters hid inside, preventing the family from leaving. The post identified the dead as Khalid Mustafa Abu Wadah himself, Wadah’s son Wadah Khaled Abu Samin, his son Mustafa, his wife as well as her mother.

Iraq News meanwhile reported that Coalition airstrikes had left “dead and wounded, including women and children.”

 

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (3)

Khalid Mustafa Abu Wadah
Adult male killed
Wadah Khaled Abu Samin
Age unknown male Son of Khalid Mustafa Abu Wadah killed
Mustafa
Age unknown male Son of Khalid Mustafa Abu Wadah

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5
  • (2 women1–2 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (2) [ collapse]

CJTF–OIR Declassified Assessment and Press Release

Attached to this civilian harm incident is a provisional reconciliation of the Pentagon's declassified assessment of this civilian harm allegation, based on matching date and locational information.

The declassified documents were obtained by Azmat Khan and the New York Times through Freedom of Information requests and lawsuits filed since March 2017, and are included alongside the corresponding press release published by the Pentagon. Airwars is currently analysing the contents of each file, and will update our own assessments accordingly.

Declassified Assessment Press Release

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Non credible / Unsubstantiated
    Insufficient information to assess that, more likely than not, a Coalition strike resulted in civilian casualties.
  • Reason for non-credible assessment
    Insufficient evidence of civilian harm
  • Civilian deaths conceded
    None
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    None
  • Stated location
    near Mosul, Iraq
    Nearest population center

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Nov 30, 2017
  • After a review of available information and strike video it was assessed that there is insufficient evidence to find that civilians were harmed in this strike.

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For January 4th-5th the Coalition publicly stated: “Near Mosul, seven strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units; destroyed five ISIL-held buildings, four fighting positions, four mortar systems, two weapons caches, a supply cache, a communications tower, a vehicle, a command and control node, and a rocket and unmanned aerial vehicle factory; damaged 27 supply routes; and suppressed two mortar teams.”

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5
  • (2 women1–2 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (2) [ collapse]