Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Eight members of the same family were killed followed an alleged Coalition strikes, according to local sources.
Multiple local outlets reported that 8 civilians – all members of the same family – were killed on October 24th in Tel Kepe, a town less than 15km north of Mosul. Yagen identified the father of the family and said he was killed along with his seven children. The report added that Al Hadidi’s wife was in critical condition and is now in recovery. While Yagen – like multiple other sources, including Almadenah News and the Iraqi Spring Media Center – blamed the Coalition, it also noted that the government of Iraq has also been involved in aerial operations to back forces attempting to retake Mosul.
A distressing video posted on Youtube and watermarked with an ISIS-linked logo shows a crumbled building and at least one body lying on the floor covered.
Local blogger Zyaad Alsenjary claimed the deaths were the result of both air and artillery strikes.
Given reported British actions 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.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Tel Kepe (Tel Kayf) (تل كيف), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.4908349, 43.1204796. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (9) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (6) [ collapse]
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An image reveals the destruction that followed an alleged coalition airstrike in Tel Kepe, Mosul on October 24th.
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The Russian MoD issued satellite images on November 4th which it said showed damage from the Coalition strike
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An image shows a child who was injured followed indiscriminate shelling in the northern city of Mosul on October 24th (Via Abdelhamid Tarek)
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An image shows a child who was injured followed shelling in the northern city of Mosul on October 24th (Via Abdelhamid Tarek)
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This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
An image shows a child killed followed indiscriminate shelling in the northern city of Mosul on October 24th (Via Abdelhamid Tarek) -
An image shows a child who was injured followed indiscriminate shelling in the northern city of Mosul on October 24th (Via Abdelhamid Tarek)
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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After a review of available information and strike video it was assessed that there is insufficient evidence to find that civilians were harmed in this strike.
Original strike reports
For October 23rd-24th 2016, the Coalition reported “Near Mosul, six strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units, two rocket systems, two anti-aircraft artillery systems and two staging areas; destroyed 19 fighting positions, 17 vehicles, 10 heavy machine guns, nine mortar systems, eight command and control nodes, six repeater towers, and four tunnels; and damaged four fighting positions, two vehicles, a mortar system, and a tunnel.”