Geolocation
Airwars assessment
A reported coalition airstrike on an ISIL IED factory [see CI109] injured ‘dozens’ of civilians, it was claimed, after a chemical cloud spread across local areas. Waradana cited Ghias Surja of the Nineveh Union of Kurdistan National Center as saying: “The lab was used by the criminal organization for terrorist activities against the innocent and defenseless, making improvised explosive devices and rockets that contain toxic materials. After the attack a cloud spread in the sky of Mosul, wounding dozens of civilians who were transferred later to hospitals in Mosul to receive first aid.“
Al Araby Al Jadeed said the chemical cloud was chlorine, which had injured 70 civilians: “A senior official in the Kurdistan Alliance, Ribawar Hassan, told al-Araby al-Jadeed: “The coalition airstrike on a chlorine gas factory in the industrial area of Mosul, has led to the gas spreading in the air, which caused 70 civilians to suffer from impaired breathing and shortness of breath in adjacent areas.”The injured were taken to hospitals,” Hassan added, stressing that “the airstrike also killed and wounded many IS members who were stationed inside these factories and workshops.”
In their June 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 after a review of all available records it was determined that, more likely than not, civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition action.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (4) [ collapse]
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.
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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Sept. 20, 2015, in Mosul, Iraq, via Airwars report. After a review of all available records it was determined that, more likely than not, the alleged civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition action. 2833/CI110 38SLF379237
Original strike reports
Heavy Coalition strikes in the vicinity were reported for September 20th-21st 2015: “Near Mosul, nine airstrikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit, three ISIL tactical units and destroyed five ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL VBIED facility, an ISIL bunker, an ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL building, an ISIL C2 node and wounded an ISIL fighter.” See video above.