Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Locals reported the deaths of 46 civilians including 28 children and 18 men and women with 80 others injured – mostly children and women – by different kind of shelling in many neighborhoods of Old Mosul. At least 26 bodies reportedly reached the local forensic medicine hospital.
Iraq News Center spoke of two dozen civilians killed and said that “press sources confirmed that the intelligence forces and defense ministry banned foreign journalists from entering to take pictures of dozens of bodies lying on the sidewalks and in the streets of civilian neighborhoods, who were killed in battles and clashes”.
Iraqi Spring and Correspondences team blamed the Coaition for the raids. They respectively put the death toll at 46 and 47 and reported 80 injured.
In its June 2017 report the Coalition denied responsibility: “16. March 19, 2017, near Mosul, Iraq, via social media report: The report contained insufficient information on the time, location and details to assess its credibility.”
The incident occured during the night.
Summary
Sources (6) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]
One source, Iraq News Center, named two neighbourhoods: New Mosul (الموصل الجدید) coordinates: 36.3323266, 43.1050515, and Al Abar (الآبار) coordinates: 36.339167, 43.096667. The areas are adjacent to each other. The report also described the incident as occurring “overnight”.
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 March 18th-19th the Coalition noted: ” Near Mosul, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed 14 fighting positions, four vehicles, two rocket-propelled grenade systems, a medium machine gun, and an artillery system; damaged 14 supply routes; and suppressed five mortar teams and three ISIS tactical units.”