2017 Mosul Slaughter
The 2017 Mosul airstrike, was an American bombing in the al-Aghawat al-Jadidah neighborhood in western Mosul on 17 March 2017 that killed between 200 and 300 civilians. The incident was the largest single death toll inflicted by a coalition air strike since the 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S. forces.
Some residents of the al-Jadida neighborhood say the airstrike hit an explosive-filled truck, detonating a blast that collapsed buildings packed with families. A Pentagon investigation concluded that a US aircraft delivered a single precision-guided bomb (GBU-38 JDAM) with the intention of targeting two ISIL snipers on the second storey of a structure in al-Jadida neighborhood. But the bomb also caused a large cache of ISIL explosives to detonate, leading to the catastrophic collapse of the building that had civilians sheltering downstairs, officials said.
Background.
Beginning on 16 October 2016, American-led forces began taking back control of the city of Mosul after it fell under occupation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in 2014. On 24 January 2017, the Eastern half of the city had been liberated from ISIL control, and the coalition forces began advancing into western Mosul soon after.
In February, the Trump administration stated that the U.S. would sharply escalate its support for the offensive in Mosul. The Pentagon reported that around 1,400 separate munitions were unleashed over the last two weeks of March. The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights corroborated an increase in the rate of drone strikes and reported 3,846 civilian deaths and the destruction of 10,000 homes since the offensive into western Mosul began. Bassma Bassim, the head of the Mosul District Council, stated that air raids from 10 March to 17 March alone had killed "more than 500" civilians.
Attack.
On 18 March, the U.S. Department of Defense stated that the American-led coalition had conducted "eight strikes consisting of 73 engagements in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government" and four of these strikes targeted ISIL in Mosul. They noted the strikes "engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed 56 ISIS vehicles, 25 fighting positions, five rocket-propelled grenade systems, two medium machine guns, two mortar systems, and an ISIS car bomb; and suppressed 20 ISIS mortar teams and four ISIS tactical units." The following day, they noted five more strikes in Mosul which "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." Some residents of the al-Jadida neighborhood say the airstrike hit an explosive-filled truck, detonating a blast that collapsed buildings packed with families.
Investigation.
The United States Central Command confirmed that the American-led coalition conducted an airstrike targeting ISIL fighters and equipment on 17 March in the al-Jadidah neighborhood, where the civilian casualties were reported; however, they could not confirm which member of the coalition conducted the airstrike.
The Iraqi military blamed ISIL for the attack despite reports suggesting that its artillery may also have hit the neighborhood, saying that 61 bodies had been recovered at the site of a booby-trapped house which it described as “completely destroyed.” The statement added that “there is no hole or indication that was subjected to an air strike.” That account strongly contradicted much field reporting and the accounts of other officials. A provincial health official, for instance, told Reuters that wide swaths of the neighborhood were destroyed in fighting, “civil defense has extracted and buried 160 bodies up to this moment.” The Iraqi Civil Defense Department reported at least 137 bodies were recovered, but by 27 March, that number had risen to 531.
On 25 May 2017, the Pentagon concluded that at least 105 civilians died in the airstrike when a US aircraft delivered a single precision-guided bomb (GBU-38 JDAM) with the intention of targeting two ISIL snipers on the second storey of a structure in al-Jadida neighborhood. But the bomb also caused a large cache of ISIL explosives to detonate, leading to the catastrophic collapse of the building that had civilians sheltering downstairs, officials said.
Aftermath.
The Iraqi Army temporarily stopped its advance into western Mosul following the airstrike.
References.
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