Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CI509

Incident date

March 4, 2017

Location

المنصور, Mosul, Al Mansour, Nineveh, Iraq

Geolocation

36.319488, 43.114521 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Local sources said that a number of civilians were killed or injured, mostly children and women, when airstrikes struck the Shula kindergarten in Mansour neighborhood, at the right side of Mosul.

According to press sources, the warplanes had targeted an ISIL headquarters. None of the sources identified the warplanes.

Wadi Hajar (Facebook) posted a photo of a young girl (see below), saying that she and her father, as well as all of their family members, died in the airstrikes on Al Mansour. In a second post it showed a photo of a young man, stating that Mohammed Jadou was among the victims.

In what may be a related incident, Amnesty field assessors noted the following: “On 4 March, in the afternoon, another house in our al-Mousour apartments neighbourhood was destroyed by mortars. There was a car bomb in front of the house, and the ISF tried to hit the car bomb. There was a huge explosion. The attack killed three people. Two people were buried under the rubble, and we couldn’t dig them out. My cousin, XXXX – 45 years old – died from a piece of shrapnel in his back. We buried him in the garden. The grave is still there.”

 

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Mohammed Jadou
Adult male killed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2 – 4
  • (1 child2 women1 man)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (6) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • This young girl reportedly died in the raids on Al Mansour, together with her father and all of her family members (via Wadi Hajar Facebook)
  • Mohammed Jadou (via Wadi Hajar Facebook)
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 information on the time and location
  • Civilian deaths conceded
    None
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    None
  • Stated location
    near Mosul, Iraq
    Nearest population center

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Oct 27, 2017
  • The report contains insufficient information of the time, location and details to assess its credibility.

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For March 3rd-March 4th the Coalition publicly stated: “Near Mosul, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and an ISIS staging area; destroyed 21 mortar systems, 13 fighting positions, five heavy machine guns, four medium machine guns, and an ISIS headquarters; and damaged five supply routes.”

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2 – 4
  • (1 child2 women1 man)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (6) [ collapse]