Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Between 7 and 12 civilians were reported killed following an alleged Coalition strike on the Directorate of Agriculture in Mosul. A further 28 to 39 people were reported injured. The incident took place in the Al Faisaliah area of eastern Mosul, and according to reports, most if not all of those killed had no links to Daesh. An ISIL propaganda video showed some victims in their vehicles, with others including children taken to a local hospital.
In a separate event, five to eight civilian prisoners and three Daesh guards were reported killed and a further 30 people injured, after the Coalition allegedly bombed a detention facility at government offices in Badush, to the west of the city. One eyewitness told a Daesh film crew that there were two strikes at the location: “While I was sitting inside my home taking breakfast at 9.30 am [inside the mosque compound] I heard the sound of planes and the first missile hit this place. The smoke and dust was very heavy. Then the second missile hit again the same place at 10 a.m and you can see the destruction which resulted of this bombing.”
One victim has since been named as Saad Abu Mohammed, a local surveyor.
Major General Abdullah al-Jubouri, commander of Iraq Army operations in Nineveh, later urged the international coalition to exercise greater precision in hitting targets.
In July 2017, the Coalition classed the event as non credible on grounds of no strikes in the near vicinity: “Nov. 16, 2015, near Mosul, Iraq, via Airwars report: After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographic area that correspond to the report of civilian casualties.”
However, given that the Coalition declared strikes in Mosul on the day, Airwars is seeking additional information – and has now classed this event as contested.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the city of Mosul (الموصل), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.34585235, 43.09857692. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (15) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (7) [ collapse]
-
Missile fragment reportedly found at scene of a lethal Mosul airstrike, November 16 2015 (via NRN)
-
One of 40 vehicles destroyed in an alleged Coalition strike at Mosul which killed up to 17 civilians (via NRN)
-
Another image of the aftermath of the attack (via Shabkt Alami Nineveh)
-
Another image of the aftermath of the attack (via Shabkt Alami Nineveh)
-
Another image of the aftermath of the attack (via Shabkt Alami Nineveh)
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
One of the people supposedly killed in the strike (via Shabkt Alami Nineveh) -
Saad Abu Mohammed (via Mosul Kadema)
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
-
After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographic area that correspond to the report of civilian casualties.
Original strike reports
The Coalition has confirmed a single strike at Mosul for November 16th-17th 2015: “Near Mosul, one strike struck an ISIL weapons cache.”