Airwars assessment
An internal post-strike review for CENTCOM of full-motion video revealed a “possible child entering a targeted bunker and then disappearing out of the field of view (FOV) approximately 19 minutes before Strike.”
The dynamic strike, conducted by a French Mirage 2000 using a Bu-49 bomb, killed an estimated five enemy fighters.
Claims that a child had died were deemed “not credible” by military intelligence officers, who decided “that individuals struck were fighters.“
Airwars researchers could find no reference to a child fatality for this date, although reports did note an intensification of Coalition strikes on the city.
In July 2017 the Coalition said that based on available evidence, it had classed the event as non credible. It has also referenced Airwars not having found any other reporting of civilian casualties other than the internal CENTCOM document: “Feb. 3, 2015, near Mosul, Iraq, via Airwars report: 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.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (6) [ collapse]
Attached to this civilian harm incident is the Pentagon's declassified assessment of this civilian harm allegation, obtained by Azmat Khan and the New York Times through Freedom of Information requests and lawsuits filed since March 2017, 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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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.
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CFACC observed a possible child entering a targeted bunker and then disappearing out of the field of view approximately 19 min before the strike. CJTF-OIR conducted a dynamic strike on the targeted bunker by Rage 43 (M-2000 FRA) using BU-49 resulting in 5 EKIA. Not credible. INT reflections that individuals struck were fighters