Iraqi command says IS fabricates reports of civilian casualties in Mosul
Displaced Iraqis flee their homes as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State militants, in western Mosul, Iraq March 18, 2017. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem
“The terrorist Daesh (Islamic State) gangs practice the most heinous kinds of treatments to our people…They film and photograph innocent civilian victims whom they kill, presenting them as victims of strikes by the heroic Iraqi forces to mislead the public,” said the statement by the Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell.
The statement reiterated that Iraqi forces remain committed to “engagement rules that ensure protection for civilians”.
News reports suggested earlier Thursday that hundreds of civilians died in strikes by fighter jets from the Iraqi army and the allied U.S.-led coalition in western Mosul, where a security campaign has been running since mid February to eliminate militants.
Anadolu Agency quoted Cap. Ahmed al-Khazraji, from the Rapid Response Forces, saying that 43 people, mostly women and elders, were killed by mistake in airstrikes “probably” carried out by the coalition.
Rudaw also said aerial bombardments killed more than 200 people, with many others stranded under rubbles, in Mosul al-Jadida district.
Rudaw did not specify the source of the bombardment, but Iraqi forces, the allied U.S.-led coalition and Islamic State members have occasionally shared the blame for civilian deaths during exchanged bombardments in Mosul since security operations to retake the city from IS launched in October 2016.