Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CI830

Incident date

August 19, 2017

Location

Tal Afar, Nineveh, Iraq

Geolocation

36.375659, 42.451536 Note: The accuracy of this location is to City level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

As many as 300 civilians were allegedly killed and injured in Tal Afar over three days of shelling. Information on the number of lives lost was retrieved from local medical sources, who said mostly women and children were killed and wounded.

According to JBC – which said that 300 civilians were killed across two days of fighting – Iraqi sources have estimated the number of troops attacking Tal Afar is about 40 000, including thousands of the popular mobilization forces of Iran, led by the paramilitary movement backed directly by the Revolutionary Guards. JBS, along with other sources, pointed to air and missile strikes and aerial bombardment as the cause of the significant number of civilian casualties.

Iraqi Spring Media and Omar al Halbusi said that 300 civilians had been killed and injured.

It is pertinent to note that these are general civilian casualty numbers, spanning two to three days, therefore this entry may encompass other entries recorded by Airwars.

The Coalition has confirmed two civilian casualty events in Tal Afar for this date range, see I631a and I631b below.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    150 – 300
  • Civilians reported injured
    150–300
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    US-led Coalition, Iraq Government Forces

Sources (3) [ collapse]

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the city of Tal Afar (تلعفر), for which the coordinates are: 36.375659, 42.451536. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

CJTF–OIR Declassified Assessment and Press Release

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.

Declassified Assessment Press Release

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Non credible / Unsubstantiated
    Insufficient information to assess that, more likely than not, a Coalition strike resulted in civilian casualties.
  • Reason for non-credible assessment
    Insufficient information on the time and location
  • Civilian deaths conceded
    None
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    None
  • Stated location
    near Tal Afer, Iraq
    Nearest population center
  • Location accuracy
    100 m
  • MGRS coordinate
    38SKF713286
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Jun 28, 2018
  • The report contains insufficient information of the time, location and details to assess its credibility

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For August 18th-19th the Coalition reported “Near Tal Afar, three strikes destroyed 24 vehicles, two tunnels, two weapons caches, two front-end loaders, a command and control node, a staging area, an explosives factory, an explosives cache, and a fighting position, and damaged three bridges and two supply routes.”

Iraq Government Forces Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Iraq Government Forces
  • Iraq Government Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    150 – 300
  • Civilians reported injured
    150–300
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    US-led Coalition, Iraq Government Forces

Sources (3) [ collapse]