Iraqis Weigh in on Airstrike That Killed Hundreds In Mosul
April 1, 2017
There is plenty of speculation about how hundreds of non-combatants were killed in Mosul, all apparently by accident. US and Iraqi forces have admitted partial culpability. But there are other causative factors at work.
The dramatic and tragic events in Mosul on March 22, that saw hundreds of civilians killed when a whole city block was levelled by an aerial strike has dominated Iraqi news coverage over the past week.
The extremist group known as the Islamic State, which had controlled Mosul since the middle of 2014, had brought hundreds of civilians into the area, often forcing several families to live in one house, in a neighbourhood littered with bombed and burned vehicles. Other families were trapped in Mosul and simply sought shelter there. A mistaken bombing raid by the international coalition fighting the Islamic State, or IS, group in Mosul levelled a whole block and caused, quite literally, hundreds of deaths and injuries, trapping whole families beneath rubble.
The incident caused a temporary stoppage of the operation and a re-evaluation of tactics. The international coalition said that the bombs had been dropped at the behest of the Iraqi forces on the ground, who call in locations of IS fighters.
In terms of American involvement in the tragedy, Iraqi officials have confirmed that the US wants to end the fighting with a victory over the IS group as soon as possible. This has seen more US participation on the ground. There are also some French military units on the northern outskirts of Mosul.
