Geolocation
Airwars assessment
The UN report on the protection of civilians in the context of Nineveh operations and the retaking of Mosul stated: On 5 November, airstrikes hit two houses in Hamam al-Alil City resulting in the houses collapsing. Twenty-three civilians, including children, were reportedly trapped inside. In the evening of the same day, two children, one seriously wounded, and an elderly woman was reportedly rescued and taken to the hospital. In the morning of 6 November, two female children and three bodies were reportedly taken out from the rubble. On 7 November, eight bodies (husband, wife, three children, mother of the husband and husband’s two sisters) and seven wounded civilians–three children, two men and two women–were reportedly taken out from the rubble. ISIL was reportedly shelling ISF positions from behind the houses. Attempts to rescue victims and to take out dead bodies were reportedly also being hindered by ISIL sniper fire.
Airwars researchers have so far identified no known public allegations of civilians killed or injured in Hamam al Alil on this date.
In their May 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.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Mosul, Hamam al Alil subdistrict (حمام العليل), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.16429, 43.25923. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (1) [ 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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Nov. 5, 2016, in Hamam al Alil, 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. 3061/CI323 38SLF434035
Original strike reports
For November 4th-5th, the Coalition reported “Near Mosul, nine strikes [3 British] engaged five ISIL tactical units and four staging areas; destroyed five vehicles, three weapons caches, three mortar systems, a storage facility, a VBIED, and an ISIL-held building; and damaged an ISIL supply route, a bridge, and a tunnel.”