Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CI577

Incident date

March 25, 2017

Location

حي التنك, Mosul, Tanak, Nineveh, Iraq

Geolocation

36.3364235, 43.0626297 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

A total of 21 civilians were reported killed in airstrikes on homes in the Al Tanak area of Mosul.

On June 11th, Airwars’ Iraq researcher met with two survivors. Our field notes state: “Airwars researcher based in Baghdad met on June 11th 2017 two witnesses (XX and YY) saying two entire families were killed when a Coalition airstrike targeted their houses and killed the family of Ahmad Al Ehemed of 8 members and Mohamed Fathi Mosa family of 13 members in Tanak neighborhood west of Mosul.”

In a separate field investigation which appears to relate to the same event, Amnesty International reported the following: “At the end of March they (ISF or the coalition) fired a rocket which landed between two houses on Sharia 20, next to Souk al Ma’esh. Two houses were completely destroyed, while a third house suffered maybe 30% damage. The house belonged to Rayan Ahmed, a 30 year old market worker at the souk (Souk al Ma’esh). He was killed along with his family. Six people were killed in the attack, including three young boys and an old lady.

‘I was at home, around 300 metres away. At around 11am on the day in question, I heard the sound of the explosion. I ran to the scene. There were children buried in the rubble. But the warplane was still above us you could hear it, although it was difficult to see it in the sky. I’d say that 90% of the local population was still in the area when the attack occurred. There were no ISIS targets nearby”

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Rayan Ahmed
30 years old male Market worker killed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    21
  • (4 children4 women)
  • 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 (1) [ 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
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For March 24th-25th the Coalition noted: “Near Mosul, fives strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units; destroyed six mortar systems, five fighting positions, a vehicle, a supply cache, a command and control node, a sniper position, and a VBIED; damaged seven supply routes and three fighting positions; and suppressed three ISIS tactical units and an ISIS heavy machine gun team.”

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    21
  • (4 children4 women)
  • 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 (1) [ collapse]