Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CI099

Incident date

September 1, 2015

Location

مكحول, Makhul, Salah Al Din, Iraq

Geolocation

35.20437, 43.27905 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Reports alleged that a Coalition strike killed 11 civilians “including elderly people,” and injured 18 more. According to an activist Facebook page, “Coalition planes bombed the market in the village of Makhul, which was full of displaced people.”

Another site attributed alleged civilian fatality estimates to the police, though said the airstrike responsible was by “unidentified aircraft.”

In their May 2020 civilian casualty report, the US-led Coalition assessed reports that they were responsible for civilian harm in this strike as “non-credible”, stating that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area at that time.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Makhul (مكحول), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.20437, 43.27905. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    11
  • Civilians reported injured
    18
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (2) [ collapse]

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
    No Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area
  • Civilian deaths conceded
    None
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    None
  • MGRS coordinate
    38SLD433970
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • May 1, 2020
  • Sept. 1, 2015, in Makhul, Iraq via Airwars report. After a review of all available records it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties. 2814/CI099 38SLD433970

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

While there was no strike described for Makhul, the Coalition did report that for August 31st-September 1st 2015: “Near Bayji, two airstrikes struck an ISIL large tactical unit and destroyed three ISIL vehicles and an ISIL weapons cache.”

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    11
  • Civilians reported injured
    18
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (2) [ collapse]