Airwars assessment
Local sources claimed that Coalition aircraft struck homes in an afternoon attack on Halabsa village west of Fallujah, killing six civilians and injuring another 12 or more, “most of them children and women.”
News Fallujah pictured a young survivor of the event, noting: “Yousif Mushtak Talib Al Halbusi : His mother was killed and his father( Mushtak Talib) and sister( Mariam) were injured today afternoon by the bombing.”
News of Iraq only reported ‘heavy shelling’ on the village, and did not attribute responsibility for the civilian deaths. And Yaqen – which placed the death toll higher at eight – also blamed the attack on unidentified aircraft, with its reporter noting that “the bombing targeted the homes of civilians in different parts of the city of Fallujah which also left material damage.“
Iraqi Spring instead blamed Iraq militarily for the deaths of three civilians “in [the] Zoyya area west of Fallujah.”
Iraqi Revolution reported that a female child also died the following day of injuries sustained in the event (see picture).
In the first of their March 2020 civilian casualty reports, 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.
The victims were named as:
Family members (3)
- Mariam Mushtak Talib Al Halbusi Child female (via News Fallujah now) injured
- Mushtak Talib Al Halbusi Adult male (via News Fallujah now) killed
- The wife of Mushtak Talib Al Halbusi Adult female (via News Fallujah now) killed
- Aisha Ali Mohammed Child female (via Iraqi revolution) killed
Summary
Sources (9) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]
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US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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April 17, 2016, in Halabisa, 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. 2945/CI227 38SLB807885
Original strike reports
For April 17th-18th 2016, the Coalition reported that “Near Fallujah, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.”