US-led Coalition in Iraq & Syria

Civilians in the ruins of Mosul city. (Maranie R. Staab)

Belligerent
US-led Coalition
Country
Iraq
start date
end date
Civilian Harm Status
Belligerent Assessment
Declassified Documents
Infrastructure

Incident date

December 25, 2014

Incident Code

CI024

LOCATION

الفلوجة‎, Fallujah, Al Anbar, Iraq

In an event previously not tracked by Airwars, two civilians were reported as having been possibly killed by a Dutch airstrike on December 26th, after motorbikes strayed into the kill zone during an attack on Fallujah. According to an internal CENTCOM document, it was self-reported the following day that “while conducting dynamic coalition airstrikes on

Summary

First published
December 25, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
2
Airwars civilian harm grading
Discounted
Those killed were combatants, or other parties most likely responsible.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

December 21, 2014

Incident Code

CI023

LOCATION

الفلوجة‎, Fallujah, Al Anbar, Iraq

A woman and child may have been injured in a major Australian airstrike at Fallujah on December 21st 2014, according to an internal CENTCOM assessment. The pre-planned attack was focused on a’suspected weapons factory’ in the city. However, 10 minutes after the last bomb had been dropped by an Australian aircraft, “a probable female and

Summary

First published
December 21, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
0 – 13
(2–8 children)
Airwars civilian harm grading
Fair
Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

December 16, 2014

Incident Code

CI022

LOCATION

الموصل‎, Mosul, Nineveh, Iraq

In an event previously unreported by Airwars, an internal Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) reported “4 unknown persons potentially injured while moving into the engagement area,” during a Coalition airstrike on Objective Nebula, a targeted vehicle. France later confirmed that it had carried out a targeted strike in Mosul on that date, though it is not

Summary

First published
December 16, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
0
(4 children)
Airwars civilian harm grading
Discounted
Those killed were combatants, or other parties most likely responsible.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

December 13, 2014

Incident Code

CI021

LOCATION

الرمادي, Ramadi, Al Anbar, Iraq

In an event previously unreported by Airwars, Coalition reported an unspecified open source as publishing a picture of a dead child “without any identification of original location”. According to provisional analysis “There was one airstrike in Ramadi on 13 December (strike #1266) which was unlikely to have caused the death.” No further action was recorded

Summary

First published
December 13, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
1
(1 child)
Airwars civilian harm grading
Discounted
Those killed were combatants, or other parties most likely responsible.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

December 9, 2014

Incident Code

CI020

LOCATION

الفلوجة‎, Fallujah, Al Anbar, Iraq

Up to 9 civilians were reported killed and 32 injured in what NINA described as a “coalition airstrike” on people queuing for fuel in the city. On the following day Al Jazeera, Rudaw, NINA and Mobtaba all described attacks on the districts of “Al Jolan north of the city, Nizal in the centre of the

Summary

First published
December 9, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
8 – 9
(2–3 children)
Civilians reported injured
32
Airwars civilian harm grading
Discounted
Those killed were combatants, or other parties most likely responsible.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

November 22, 2014

Incident Code

CI019

LOCATION

يت, Hit, hospital and Zohour, Al Anbar, Iraq

Multiple airstrikes reportedly targeted Hit, allegedly leading to significant civilian casualties. News agency Herak reported one eyewitness as saying that five airstrikes had struck the city: “The first targeted outside a hospital building, and the other targeted a house near the mosque. A further air strike targeted a house in the Qadisiyah district, leading to

Summary

First published
November 22, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
5 – 8
(3 children)
Civilians reported injured
9–35
Airwars civilian harm grading
Contested
Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
Suspected belligerents
US-led Coalition, Unknown
View Incident

Incident date

November 19, 2014

Incident Code

CI018

LOCATION

الموصل‎, Mosul, Nineveh, Iraq

The FBI informed CENTCOM internally on November 21st 2014 that a source had alleged the deaths of “41 Yezidi captive females killed in a strike on a named OBJ IVO [objective in the vicinity of] Mosul.” The closest strike, number 999, was identified by CENTCOM as having taken place some 3.2km from the site of

Summary

First published
November 19, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
41
(41 women)
Airwars civilian harm grading
Weak
Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

November 17, 2014

Incident Code

CI017

LOCATION

القيارة, Qayyarah, Nineveh, Iraq

Multiple civilians were reported killed as a result of air raids launched by the coalition south of Mosul. The National Iraqi News Agency cited forensic sources as saying that 16 people, including six women and children, were killed. Other media reported that up to “22 Daesh militants” were also killed in coalition airstrikes in the

Summary

First published
November 17, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
16
(3 children3 women)
Airwars civilian harm grading
Fair
Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

November 12, 2014

Incident Code

CI016

LOCATION

الموصل‎, Mosul, Jawsag, Nineveh, Iraq

Iraqi news agency NINA and others reported that seven civilians – including children – died in “international coalition raids” in the vicinity of both Denden and Jawsaq, south of Mosul city. An additional strike by the Iraq military at nearby Mithaq in eastern Mosul reportedly killed an additional 15 civilians.  

Summary

First published
November 12, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
7
(2 children)
Airwars civilian harm grading
Fair
Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

November 5, 2014

Incident Code

CI015

LOCATION

القائم, Al Qa'im, Al Anbar, Iraq

Witnesses from Al-Qaim alleged that coalition airstrikes targeted a civilian house at midnight, killing a father and his three children and leaving the wife with severe injuries. The man’s name was given as Mohammed Hammad Alhialy. This may or may not be related to an incident cited by the United Nations in its quarterly report

Summary

First published
November 5, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
4
(3 children)
Civilians reported injured
1
Airwars civilian harm grading
Contested
Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
Named victims
1 named
View Incident

Incident date

November 4, 2014

Incident Code

CI014

LOCATION

القائم, Al Qa'im, Al Anbar, Iraq

An alleged coalition airstrike reportedly hit a market at Al Qaim in western Anbar, killing at least 3 people and injuring up to 35. Two of the victims were named as as Mohamed Ahmed and Ahmed Munir Khitab. Significant damage was reported at the scene. However, the coalition denies carrying out any airstrike in the

Summary

First published
November 4, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
3 – 15
(0–2 men)
Civilians reported injured
14–35
Airwars civilian harm grading
Contested
Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
Suspected belligerents
US-led Coalition, Iraq Government Forces
Named victims
37 named
View Incident

Incident date

October 26, 2014

Incident Code

CI013

LOCATION

عوينات, Uwaynat, Nineveh, Iraq

There were claims that coalition air raids resulted in the deaths of between 10 and 20 civilians in a village 110km northwest of Mosul called Aouinat. Al Rafidain reported: “Press sources in Mosul confirmed that the bombing, which targeted the village of Aouinat killed ten civilians and destroyed at least two houses. The forensic medicine

Summary

First published
October 26, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
10 – 20
Civilians reported injured
10
Airwars civilian harm grading
Weak
Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

October 25, 2014

Incident Code

CI012

LOCATION

حاج علي, Hajj Ali, Nineveh, Iraq

Two civilians were reported by medical sources in the city to have been “accidentally killed” in an airstrike on a “Daesh stronghold in Qayyarah, Mosul“. However the Wameedh Sabah blog reported a security source as saying that the casualties were inflicted by an Iraq Army airstrike. Up to 81 alleged militants were also reported killed

Summary

First published
October 25, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
2
Airwars civilian harm grading
Contested
Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
Suspected belligerents
US-led Coalition, Iraq Government Forces
View Incident

Incident date

October 17, 2014

Incident Code

CI010

LOCATION

عوينات, Awinat, Nineveh, Iraq

According to news agency NINA, a “US air strike on the village of Aouinat northwest of Mosul killed five civilians, according to a source in forensic medicine in Mosul.” The Al Rafidain website (in a report dated ten days after the event) placed the death toll higher at between 10 and 20, saying two houses

Summary

First published
October 17, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
5 – 20
Airwars civilian harm grading
Fair
Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

October 17, 2014

Incident Code

CI011

LOCATION

البوعجيل, Bojeel, Salah Al Din, Iraq

Reports claimed that Coalition strike hit a mosque during Friday prayers in the town of Al Bojeel, to the east of Tikrit.  

Summary

First published
October 17, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
10
Civilians reported injured
15
Airwars civilian harm grading
Weak
Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

October 8, 2014

Incident Code

CI009

LOCATION

الرمادي, Ramadi, Al Anbar, Iraq

An internal CENTCOM review identified potential civilian casualties from a Coalition airstrike on an ‘ISIL checkpoint’ west of Ramadi, which appears to have been carried out by Australian aircraft. According to the internal CENTCOM document, “On reviewing WSV [weapon system video] from AUS F18F” – an Australian Super Hornet – “it was apparent that a

Summary

First published
October 8, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
2
Airwars civilian harm grading
Discounted
Those killed were combatants, or other parties most likely responsible.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

October 8, 2014

Incident Code

CI008

LOCATION

الموصل‎, Mosul, Nineveh, Iraq

According to an unidentified international news agency cited in Foreign Policy, there were unconfirmed reports of possible civilian casualties at Mosul after coalition aircraft heavily targeted the city – though the agency was unable to verify further given the security situation: “We were never able to confirm it.” Perhaps linked to the above, CENTCOM noted

Summary

First published
October 8, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
Unknown
Airwars civilian harm grading
Weak
Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

October 5, 2014

Incident Code

CI007

LOCATION

يت, Hit, Al Anbar, Iraq

It was reported by several sources in Hit that Coalition or Iraqi jets struck a number of civilian houses, killing up to 22 persons. Eight children and 3 women were reportedly among the dead. One of those quoted on the event was Nabil Souri, an Iraqi citizen working at Hit hospital, who learned that many

Summary

First published
October 5, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
18 – 24
(8 children3 women)
Civilians reported injured
43
Airwars civilian harm grading
Discounted
Those killed were combatants, or other parties most likely responsible.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

September 26, 2014

Incident Code

CI006

LOCATION

الموصل‎, Mosul, Tahrir, Nineveh, Iraq

“Seven civilians including two children” were reported by two local news agencies as being killed in a coalition airstrike in the eastern part of Mosul, in al-Tahrir Street. Alternatively, the Baghdad Centre for Human Rights claimed that two separate coalition strikes – in the Fadhiliyah and Ba’shika neighbourhoods of Mosul – killed four civilians each.

Summary

First published
September 26, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
7 – 8
(2 children)
Airwars civilian harm grading
Fair
Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

September 14, 2014

Incident Code

CI005

LOCATION

سنجار, Sinjar, Nineveh, Iraq

An internal CENTCOM review identified potential civilian casualties from a Coalition airstrike in “northern Iraq.” The only location for this date which matches is Sinjar. The incident was not previously tracked by Airwars. According to a declassified CENTCOM document, “A review of FMV from a RECOIL feed revealed unknown individuals moving into a target area

Summary

First published
September 14, 2014
Last updated
April 11, 2023
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
2
Airwars civilian harm grading
Discounted
Those killed were combatants, or other parties most likely responsible.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

September 5, 2014

Incident Code

CI004

LOCATION

الموصل‎, Mosul, Houses neighboring the Turkish Consulate, Nineveh, Iraq

Sources in the city claimed that an airstrike carried out at approximately 10pm in the vicinity of the Turkish consulate in Mosul had killed Ridwan Akram, his wife and their child. According to a commemorative Facebook page, the family had only recently returned after three months in Turkey when they died. While a number of

Summary

First published
September 5, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
3
(1 child1 man)
Airwars civilian harm grading
Discounted
Those killed were combatants, or other parties most likely responsible.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
Named victims
1 named
View Incident

Incident date

September 3, 2014

Incident Code

CI003

LOCATION

الوحدة, Mosul, Al Wahda, Nineveh, Iraq

A reported aerial bombardment (at 2200hrs local time) near an ISIL HQ east of Mosul, allegedly left up to seven members of the same family dead and injured in the al-Wadha Street area. At least three women were reported killed and a man and child injured. While Baghdad TV attributed the strike to US aircraft,

Summary

First published
September 3, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
3 – 7
(3 women)
Airwars civilian harm grading
Discounted
Those killed were combatants, or other parties most likely responsible.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident

Incident date

August 24, 2014

Incident Code

CI002

LOCATION

القيارة, Qayyarah, Al Shuhadaa, Nineveh, Iraq

Local news service Al Sumaria claimed that “11 civilians from one family” died after coalition airstrikes hit the village of al Qayyarah south of Mosul on the morning of August 24th. Other sources, placing the death count slightly lower at 8-9 killed, reported that the attack had been carried out by a helicopter, possibly a

Summary

First published
August 24, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
8 – 11
Airwars civilian harm grading
Contested
Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
Suspected belligerents
US-led Coalition, Iraq Government Forces
View Incident

Incident date

August 16, 2014

Incident Code

CI001

LOCATION

سنجار, Sinjar, Nineveh, Iraq

According to the German news agency DPA, the first known civilian victims of US bombing in the campaign occurred on August 16th, eight days into the air war. According to DPA, witnesses informed the agency’s reporter that “11 civilian were killed by a US airstrike when they chased [ISIL] fighters in Sinjar but its rockets

Summary

First published
August 16, 2014
Last updated
January 18, 2022
Civilian harm reported
Yes
Civilians reported killed
11
Airwars civilian harm grading
Fair
Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
Suspected belligerent
US-led Coalition
View Incident