Incident Code

CI284

Location

تل عفر, Tall Afar, Nineveh, Iraq

Geolocation

36.375659, 42.451536
Accuracy: Town

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: December 15, 2024

(Previous Incident Code: I240)

Between two and seven civilians including women and children died – and five were injured – in an alleged Coalition airstrike on the Tel Al Shaeer and Aski Mosul areas in Tal Afar, west of Mosul, according to local sources.

Yaqein reported that the Coalition carried out a strike that “targeted the villages of Tel Al Shaeer and Aski Mosul“. The source added that “the shelling, which lasted more than an hour, killed two people and wounded five others, including women and children who were injured.”

A Tweet by Sonawa1 referred to the deaths of two children following the bombing of Tal Afar.

Aleyatiraq said that women and children “were among the seven victims killed by the bombing of coalition warplanes on the villages of Tel Al Shaeer and Aki Mosul, satellite towns of Tal Afar west of Mosul.

Given reported British incidents in the area that day, Airwars flagged the incident to the UK’s MoD which said ” we can confirm that there was no UK involvement” in the event. We have asked for additional clarification.

In their August 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.

Key Information

Country
Military Actor
Civilian Harm Reported
Yes
Civilian Harm Status
Fair
Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
Civilians reported killed
2–7
2 Children, 1 Woman
Civilians reported injured
5

Geolocation Notes

Reports of the incident mention the town of Tall Afar (تل عفر), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.375659, 42.451536. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Military Statements

U.S.-led Coalition Assessment
Suspected belligerent
U.S.-led Coalition
U.S.-led Coalition position on incident
Non credible / Unsubstantiated
Reason for non-credible assessment
No Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area
Civilian deaths conceded
None
Civilian injuries conceded
None
MGRS coordinate
38SKF973430
U.S.-led Coalition Strike Report
For September 8th-9th, the Coalition reported that “near Tallafar, one strike destroyed an VBIED factory.”
U.S.-led Coalition Civilian Casualty Statement
2020-08-22
Original Source
Sept. 8, 2016, in Aski Mosul, 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. 3037/CI284 38SKF973430