UPDATED: 230 civilian casualties from Anbar airstrike
Iraqi fighter jet file photo.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) The casualty toll from a Wednesday airstrike on Anbar’s town of al-Qaem has reached 230, according to a local official.
The catastrophic strike, which reportedly caused the death of whole families at a market area, presumably by mistake, has drawn condemnation by Iraqi politicians who called for an investigation to identify the military party to which the jets belonged.
US-led international air forces and Iraqi air forces have been launching airstrikes targeting locations held by Islamic State militants across Iraq since last October, including Anbar.
Iraqi military officials remain mum on the identity of the fighter jets, and a spokesperson of the US-led coalition denied links to the strike.
But on Thursday, Anbar council member, Farhan al-Ebeidi, said bluntly that “Iraqi army fighter jets” were behind the strike, putting the toll at 130 deaths and 100 injuries.
“It is impossible to accurately figure out what is going on in the precinct since Daesh (ISIS) have cut all means of communication in the western regions of the province,” Ebeidi was quoted as saying by AlMada Press. He added that what he described as the “dangerous humanitarian conditions” at those regions requires to “clear them from ISIS militants more rapidly and to stop haphazard strikes.”
Also on Wednesday, parliament speaker Salim al-Jabbouri, and Anbar council spokesperson Eid Ammas, held the Iraqi government fully responsible for the calamity.