Airstrikes kill 22 civilians west of Mosul, IS execute 43 including members
Smoke rises after an airstrike, during the battle against Islamic State militants, at the district of al-Mamoun in Mosul, Iraq, March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani – RTS10XG7
DPA quoted a medical source saying that fighter jets from the international military coalition, led by the United States, have pounded popular areas held by the Islamic State at Nabi Sheet, Okaidat, Shaarin and al-Boursa, all southwest of Mosul. The strikes left however, 22 civilians dead, mostly women and children, and wounded 34 others who were admitted at the Mosul Public Hospital, according to Islam Ali, a doctor at the Nineveh health department.
Rights groups have condemned civilian deaths in operations by the Iraqi government, allied militias and the international coalition. Commanders at the forces subject to criticisms have reiterated they do efforts to minimize civilian casualties.
The U.S. army said Saturday that 21 civilians were killed in nine separate strikes by the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria between November and January, bringing the total of civilians unintentionally killed by the coalition since the start of operations against the militant group in 2014 to 220.
Also in western Mosul, head of the Joint Operations Command in Mosul, Lt. Gen. Nijm al-Jubouri, told Bas News that Islamic State militants executed 35 civilian prisoners who had been detained earlier at the group’s prison facilities in Zanjili neighborhood.
The group also executed eight of its members for escaping the battlefield, a practice that has been frequently reported since security operations to retake the city launched in October 2016.