Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CI693

Incident date

May 7, 2017

Location

الشلالات, Mosul, Shalalat, Nineveh, Iraq

Airwars assessment

Residents and local media sources said that 34 civilians were killed and 77 (numbers reportedly mentioned by ISIL press agency) wounded after Coalition airstrikes and shelling by Iraqi government forces hit many neighbourhoods in West Mosul.

@sh0_news said in a tweet that “more than 130 martyred civilians are the result of the bombing of the Coalition on Mosul # Today”. This appears to be an inflated compound of dead and injured figures.

An unknown source told Yaqein that Iraqi and US artillery shelling had hit several neighbourhoods in West Mosul since 7am that day, including Shalalat.

Further details are presently unknown.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    34
  • Civilians reported injured
    77
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    US-led Coalition, Iraq Government Forces

Sources (5) [ 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 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
  • Jan 25, 2018
  • The report contains insufficient information of the time location and details to assess its credibility.

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For May 6th-7th the Coalition reported: “Near Mosul, five strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units and a sniper team; destroyed three VBIED factories, three tactical vehicles, two fighting positions, two medium machine guns, two VBIEDs, a mortar system, an anti-air artillery system, a VBIED facility, a rocket-propelled grenade system, a VBIED staging area; and damaged four fighting positions and four ISIS supply routes.”

Iraq Government Forces Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Iraq Government Forces
  • Iraq Government Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    34
  • Civilians reported injured
    77
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    US-led Coalition, Iraq Government Forces

Sources (5) [ collapse]