Airwars assessment
Local reports say that the streets in eastern Mosul were covered by the bodies of dozens of civilians – their deaths caused by Coalition airstrikes and heavy artillery. Fighting was particularly intense in the Sugar Hill and Muthanna neighborhoods.
Alaraby reported that fighting and airstrikes by the Coalition forces and Iraqi forces killed and wounded at least 100 civilians in the neighborhoods of Muthanna, Comrades, Municipalities and Flowers. Local sources confirmed that “the bodies of dozens of victims, including women and children, lay scattered on the streets and indoors, with a lack of access to the region because of the ferocity of the battles there.”
Mosul Ateka said that Haitham Mahmoud Najafi (Abu Qudaamah) and his son Zaid and his wife and two daughters were killed, after the bombing of their home in the Al Muthanna neighbourhood.
Iraqi Spring Media Center put the death toll at 50 and said more than 60 were injured.
The incident occured around dawn.
The victims were named as:
Family members (2)
- Haitham Mahmoud Najafi Adult male Father killed
- Zaid Age unknown male Son killed
Summary
Sources (8) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention several locations on the eastern side of Mosul: The Fourth Bridge ( الجسر الرابع), for which the coordinates are: 36.332565, 43.151646; Officers District (الضباط), for which the coordinates are: 36.3389125, 43.1544685; Muthanna (المثنى), for which the coordinates are: 36.3738889, 43.1718063; Rifaq (الرفاق), for which the coordinates are: 36.379167, 43.166111; Badiat (البلديات), for which the coordinates are: 36.3841162, 43.1603909; and Zuhour (الزهور), for which the coordinates are: 36.3789337, 43.1850243. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Attached to this civilian harm incident is the Pentagon's declassified assessment of this civilian harm allegation, obtained by Azmat Khan and the New York Times through Freedom of Information requests and lawsuits filed since March 2017, 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 it was assessed that no Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area that correspond to the report of civilian casualties.
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After a review of available information and the strike video, it was assessed that there is insufficient evidence to find civilians were harmed in this strike.
Original strike reports
For January 7th-8th the Coalition publicly stated: “Near Mosul, three strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units; destroyed five mortars, two supply caches, four fighting positions, a command and control node, a weapons cache, and a VBIED factory; suppressed three mortar teams; damaged 14 supply routes; and disabled a bridge.”