Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Local sources said Coalition airstrikes bombed a school inhabited by displaced people in Faisaliyah neighborhood in East Mosul, leaving up to 12 civilians dead or wounded. The Coalition subsequently confirmed responsibility.
News of Iraq reported that the raids on Friday evening had killed and wounded “12 people, mostly women and children.” All sources said the Coalition was responsible for the air strikes.
On March 4th the Coalition admitted responsibility for the event: “Jan. 13, 2017, near Mosul, Iraq, via self-report: During a strike on ISIS fighters in a house it was assessed that eight civilians were unintentionally killed. During post-strike video analysis civilians were identified near the house who were not evident prior to the strike.” It also noted that it was assessing at least one other Mosul event for that day: “Jan. 13, 2017, near Mosul, Iraq, via social media report.”
A Coalition official subsequently confirmed to Airwars that this refered to the al Faisaliyah event, providing the grid reference 38SLF3436724131.
On March 18th Airwars spoke with a reported survivor of the incident, who provided photographs and biographical details for five victims – including two of his own children. According to the source the US strike hit the Al Marafa private school at 9am where IDPs were staying.
The incident occured at approximately 9:00 am local time.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (5) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]
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Photos provided by Qusay Saad Abdul Razaq to Airwars researchers, showing the bodies of two of his children. -
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Another photo provided by Qusay Saad Abdul Razaq. -
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More images provided by Qusay Saad Abdul Razaq. -
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More images provided by Qusay Saad Abdul Razaq.
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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Jan. 13, 2017, near Mosul, Iraq, via self-report: During a strike on ISIS fighters in a house it was assessed that eight civilians were unintentionally killed. During post-strike video analysis civilians were identified near the house who were not evident prior to the strike.
Original strike reports
For January 12th-13th the Coalition publicly noted: “Near Mosul, nine strikes engaged five ISIL tactical units; destroyed five vehicles, three mortar systems, two UAV launch sites, three fighting positions, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, a VBIED manufacturing and armoring facility, a heavy machine gun, a supply cache, and an anti-air artillery system; damaged 18 supply routes; and two bridges.”