Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Internal monitoring by the Coalition initially identified two possible civilian casualties from an airstrike at Hawijah. The attack, on a High Value target code-named ANDERS MESA, was carried out by an A-10 Warthog.
According to a CENTCOM report declassified in September 2015, “2 civilians unseen in the collateral calls may have been killed or injured as a result of the strike.” A note added that a Task Force was “working with subordinate units to conduct an assessment of the strike.”
On January 15th 2016, CENTCOM publicly conceded that two non combatants had likely died in this US airstrike: “On April 12, 2015, near Al Huwayjah, Iraq, during a strike on an ISIL tactical unit, it was assessed that two unidentified civilians were killed.”
Airwars researchers have not identified any published allegations of civilian casualties from the time, though news reports did report approximately 30 Daesh fighters killed in a strike in the vicinity.
In July 2019, the Coalition provided Airwars with the location of the event to within a 100 metre box.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (2) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Prior to the Coalition releasing the MGRS for this incident, Airwars had geolocated it to the nearest town at 35.3240179, 43.77335
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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On April 12, 2015, near Al Huwayjah, Iraq, during a strike on an ISIL tactical unit, it was assessed that two unidentified civilians were killed.
Original strike reports
Confirmed on January 15th 2016. For April 12th-13th 2015, the Coalition had originally reported that “Near Al Huwayjah, an airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit.”