Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Local press and residents, as well as al-Amaq (ISIL) press sources, said that Coalition shelling had targeted several neighborhoods at the right side of Mosul, especially near apartments in Al-Yarmouk neighbourhood, with munitions equipped with controversial White Phosphorus. No civilian casualties were reported.
Iraqi Spring posted a video on Facebook of al-Amaq agency [ISIL], showing “the effects of the US phosphorus bombing, which targeted residential neighborhoods near the Yarmouk Apartments in the right side of # Mosul city.”
Urgent Mosul News also reported heavy shelling by warplanes in the neighbourhood, but unlike all other sources, did not identify them as being Coalition aircraft.
A Bellingcat investigation later concluded: “The international US-led Coalition appears to have used white phosphorous (WP) munitions in their battle against the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Mosul, Iraq, based on a video posted online by an IS-linked propaganda outlet. It is known that the US has used WP in Iraq, and while aware of the video, the Coalition neither confirmed or denied the specific use of WP in Mosul. It has not been possible to establish whether civilians were present at the targeted site, but when WP is used in residential neighbourhood the tactical military advantage may well be outweighed the stigma of using WP in civilian areas, as a Human Rights Watch employee stated earlier. While the statement was made in the context of attacks, it also holds for other usages of WP. No multimedia or textual information could be found hinting towards civilian injuries or casualties due to the alleged use of WP.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (8) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]
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Bellingcat geolocated the March 10th 2017 use of white phosphorous against ISIL in urban Mosul
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.
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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The report contains insufficient information of the time, location and details to assess its credibility.
Original strike reports
For March 9th-10th the Coalition publicly reported: “Near Mosul, six strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units and an ISIS staging area; destroyed 11 vehicles, nine mortar systems, eight fighting positions, five VBIEDs, two medium machine guns, two roadblocks, two watercraft, an anti-air artillery system, a supply cache, an ammunition cache, and a recoilless rifle; damaged 15 supply routes; and suppressed 10 mortar teams.”