US opens formal investigation into civilian deaths in Mosul

One estimate put the death toll in the blast at more than 200 people.

Civilian casualty incidents may multiply as the us supports the most brutal phase of the Iraqi Security Force advance on Mosul.

The fight for western Mosul’s Old City, home to the mosque where Islamic State leader Abu-Bakr al Baghdadi infamously declared the creation of a new caliphate, has been a bloody affair defined by some of the toughest urban combat seen by U.S. -backed Iraqi forces since the offensive began in October, U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Joseph Votel said Wednesday.

The civilian deaths can not be attributed to any loosening of American military rules of combat, he said, and Washington hasn’t chose to tolerate greater risk of civilian casualties in USA airstrikes. According to Townsend, the munitions used during the USA airstrike should not have collapsed an entire building.

“I think that’s really the explanation for the civilian casualties”, Townsend added. “We have never targeted civilians, not once”, he said, adding later, “I’m not targeting civilians”.

“What has not changed is our care, our caution. our tolerance from civilian casualties – none of that has changed”.

“We have an investigation going on, but our initial assessment. shows we did strike in that area, there were multiple strikes in that area, so is it possible that we did that?”

The rights office said it was not in a position to provide a breakdown of the deaths caused by ISIL violence and air strikes by the global anti-ISIL coalition.

Civilians, humanitarian groups and monitoring officials have repeatedly warned of the possibility of increased civilian casualties in western Mosul due to the higher density of the population there and the increased reliance on airstrikes and artillery.

United Nations rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said Tuesday that more than 300 civilians have been killed in west Mosul since February 17.

Townsend placed blame for the civilian deaths on ISIS and said the U.S-led forces have applied great care and caution in avoiding civilian deaths in the fight.

In the east, the Iraqi forces adopted a strategy of encouraging civilians to stay at home, dropping leaflets into the city with safety instructions for residents.

CENTCOM said the aircraft acted at the request of Iraqi security forces.

But almost 4,000 of the total strikes were undertaken by other members of the coalition battling ISIS.

November 3, 2016 — During a firefight between NATO-backed Afghan forces and the Taliban in the northern Kunduz province, troops responded to fire from insurgents who had taken up positions in civilian homes, killing 33 civilians and wounding 27, according to the US military, which expressed regret.

He called for an emergency session of the Iraqi parliament to discuss the catastrophe and to begin a parliamentary investigation into its cause.

Iraqis walk past debris of houses destroyed during fighting between Iraqi security forces and ISIS on Friday.

Votel urged members of the Armed Services Committee to keep in mind that ISIS often exploits American concerns to operate at a higher standard and prevent civilian casualties as a method to distract its campaign against the terrorist group. Among the changes were to “decentralize” decisionmaking, he said. The US has denied rules of engament in Iraq have been revised, however. The CENTCOM statement said “our goal has always been for zero civilian casualties”.