Geolocation
Airwars assessment
In its July 2017 civilian casualty report, the Coalition reported that it did not carry out strikes in an area where civilian casualties were alleged by an unnamed NGO. This allegation was previously unknown to Airwars.
According to the report, “May 18, 2017, near Mosul, Iraq, via NGO report: After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition strikes were conducted on that day in the geographic area of the reported civilian casualties.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the city of Mosul (الموصل), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.34585235, 43.09857692. 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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After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition strikes were conducted on that day in the geographic area of the reported civilian casualties.
Original strike reports
For May 17th-18th, the Coalition reported: “Near Mosul, six strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units; destroyed eight fighting positions, four medium machine guns, four mortar systems, four VBIEDs, four rocket systems, three vehicles, three rocket-propelled grenade systems, two ISIS-held buildings, two heavy machine guns, two ISIS staging areas, a supply cache, an anti-air artillery system, an ISIS fuel truck, a VBIED facility, and a fighting position; damaged 16 supply routes and four rocket systems; and suppressed two mortar teams and an ISIS tactical unit.”