Relatives mourn next to bodies of Iraqi residents of west Mosul killed in an air strike targeting Isis on 17 March 2017
(
AFP/Getty
)
A Pentagon investigation has found more than 100 civilians were killed in a US bombing in Mosul, Iraq, in March, making it one of the largest incidents of civilian death since the US air campaign against Isis began in 2014.
The military reports 101 civilians in the building were killed, and another four died in a nearby building. Thirty-six civilians remain unaccounted for.
The deaths represent about a quarter of all civilian deaths since the US air campaign began.
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“Our condolences go out to all those that were affected,” said Maj Gen Joe Martin, commanding general of the Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJFLCC-OIR).
“The coalition takes every feasible measure to protect civilians from harm,” he added. “The best way to protect civilians is to defeat Isis."
The CJFLCC-OIR’s investigation was triggered by international outcry over reports of large-scale civilian deaths following the 17 March bombing.
Critics claim the US has been too aggressive in bombing congested areas like Mosul. The major Iraqi city – and last Isis city stronghold – has a population of more than 660,000.
The incident generated backlash strong enough to halt the Iraqi government forces' six-month advance into Mosul.
The most iconic images from the war in Iraq
Show all 20
The most iconic images from the war in Iraq
1/20
U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman HM1 Richard Barnett, assigned to the 1st Marine Division, holds an Iraqi child in central Iraq, March 29, 2003
Reuters
2/20
An explosion rocks Baghdad during air strikes March 21, 2003
Reuters
3/20
An Iraqi woman watches U.N. weapons inspectors leave Saddam airport in Baghdad March 18, 2003
Reuters
4/20
An Iraqi girl holds her sister as she waits for her mother (R) to bring over food bought in Basra March 29, 2003
Reuters
5/20
U.S. Marine Corp Assaultman Kirk Dalrymple watches as a statue of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein falls in central Baghdad's Firdaus Square, April 9, 2003
Reuters
6/20
US Marines kick in a door while securing a building next to the main hospital in central Baghdad April 15, 2003
Reuters
7/20
A soldier of U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division (Task Force Ironhorse) searches through dense vegetation around the Diala river where Iraqi militants are hiding outside Baquba early November 13, 2003
Reuters
8/20
An Iraqi detainee gestures toward U.S. soldiers through bars of his cell at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad May 17, 2004
Reuters
9/20
Mays, a young Iraqi Shi'ite girl, cries after a mortar shell which landed outside the family's home in a Najaf residential area injured her uncle August 18, 2004
Reuters
10/20
U.S. Marines carry an injured colleague to a helicopter near the city of Falluja, November 10, 2004
Reuters
11/20
An Iraqi man suspected of having explosives in his car is held after being arrested by the U.S army near Baquba, Iraq, October 15, 2005
Reuters
12/20
A wounded Iraqi woman is helped after several bomb attacks in central Baghdad, July 27, 2006
Reuters
13/20
A man runs down a street warning people to flee shortly after a twin car bomb attack at Shorja market in Baghdad, February 12, 2007
Reuters
14/20
An Iraqi girl holds her hands up while U.S. and Iraqi soldiers search her family house in Baquba early June 30, 2007
Reuters
15/20
An Iraqi woman tries to explain that she has nothing to do with illegal fuel as soldiers from the 2nd battalion, 32nd Field Artillery brigade patrol search for illegal fuel sellers in Baghdad August 6, 2007
Reuters
16/20
U.S. President George W. Bush (L) walks in front of Humvees with Defense Secretary Robert Gates (C) and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice following remarks to the press after nightfall at Al-Asad airbase in Anbar Province September 3, 2007
Reuters
17/20
U.S. soldiers blindfold an Iraqi man after arresting him during a night patrol at the Zafraniya neighborhood, southeast of Baghdad September 4, 2007
Reuters
18/20
An Iraqi baby lies in a cradle while a woman argues with U.S. soldiers of 1/8 Bravo Company searching for weapons, explosives and information about militants in the area during a foot patrol in a neighbourhood of Mosul June 26, 2008
Reuters
19/20
Policemen cry during a funeral of their colleague a day after a bomb attack in Baghdad's Jihad district November 3, 2010
Reuters
20/20
Staff Sgt. Keith Fidler kisses his wife Cynthia, as their son Kolin looks on, during a homecoming ceremony in New York, April 8, 2011 for the New York Army National Guard's 442nd Military Police Company's return from Iraq
Reuters
1/20
U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman HM1 Richard Barnett, assigned to the 1st Marine Division, holds an Iraqi child in central Iraq, March 29, 2003
Reuters
2/20
An explosion rocks Baghdad during air strikes March 21, 2003
Reuters
3/20
An Iraqi woman watches U.N. weapons inspectors leave Saddam airport in Baghdad March 18, 2003
Reuters
4/20
An Iraqi girl holds her sister as she waits for her mother (R) to bring over food bought in Basra March 29, 2003
Reuters
5/20
U.S. Marine Corp Assaultman Kirk Dalrymple watches as a statue of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein falls in central Baghdad's Firdaus Square, April 9, 2003
Reuters
6/20
US Marines kick in a door while securing a building next to the main hospital in central Baghdad April 15, 2003
Reuters
7/20
A soldier of U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division (Task Force Ironhorse) searches through dense vegetation around the Diala river where Iraqi militants are hiding outside Baquba early November 13, 2003
Reuters
8/20
An Iraqi detainee gestures toward U.S. soldiers through bars of his cell at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad May 17, 2004
Reuters
9/20
Mays, a young Iraqi Shi'ite girl, cries after a mortar shell which landed outside the family's home in a Najaf residential area injured her uncle August 18, 2004
Reuters
10/20
U.S. Marines carry an injured colleague to a helicopter near the city of Falluja, November 10, 2004
Reuters
11/20
An Iraqi man suspected of having explosives in his car is held after being arrested by the U.S army near Baquba, Iraq, October 15, 2005
Reuters
12/20
A wounded Iraqi woman is helped after several bomb attacks in central Baghdad, July 27, 2006
Reuters
13/20
A man runs down a street warning people to flee shortly after a twin car bomb attack at Shorja market in Baghdad, February 12, 2007
Reuters
14/20
An Iraqi girl holds her hands up while U.S. and Iraqi soldiers search her family house in Baquba early June 30, 2007
Reuters
15/20
An Iraqi woman tries to explain that she has nothing to do with illegal fuel as soldiers from the 2nd battalion, 32nd Field Artillery brigade patrol search for illegal fuel sellers in Baghdad August 6, 2007
Reuters
16/20
U.S. President George W. Bush (L) walks in front of Humvees with Defense Secretary Robert Gates (C) and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice following remarks to the press after nightfall at Al-Asad airbase in Anbar Province September 3, 2007
Reuters
17/20
U.S. soldiers blindfold an Iraqi man after arresting him during a night patrol at the Zafraniya neighborhood, southeast of Baghdad September 4, 2007
Reuters
18/20
An Iraqi baby lies in a cradle while a woman argues with U.S. soldiers of 1/8 Bravo Company searching for weapons, explosives and information about militants in the area during a foot patrol in a neighbourhood of Mosul June 26, 2008
Reuters
19/20
Policemen cry during a funeral of their colleague a day after a bomb attack in Baghdad's Jihad district November 3, 2010
Reuters
20/20
Staff Sgt. Keith Fidler kisses his wife Cynthia, as their son Kolin looks on, during a homecoming ceremony in New York, April 8, 2011 for the New York Army National Guard's 442nd Military Police Company's return from Iraq
Reuters
“It’s a time for weighing new offensive plans and tactics. No combat operations are to go on," a federal police spokesman said at the time. A new plan for defeating Isis, commissioned by President Donald Trump in January, has not been detailed to the public.
The newly released Pentagon report, however, casts blame for the casualties on Isis.
According to the report, the US bomb was intended to destroy only the top floor of the building. But the bomb triggered secondary explosions from devices planted in the building by Isis fighters, causing the concrete building to collapse.
The military cites an analysis of the building’s debris, which found materials common to Isis-made bombs, but not found in the GBU-38.
Air Force Brig Gen Matthew Isler says American-led forces dropped the bomb under request from Iraqi Counter-terrorism Services. The counter-terrorism forces were reportedly facing gunfire from two Isis snipers.
Coalition aircraft responded to the calls for assistance with a 500-pound, GBU-38 precision-guided bomb.
“The weapon appropriately balanced the military necessity of neutralising the snipers with the potential for collateral damage,” Brig Gen Isler said.
The US has increasingly turned to air strikes to access snipers in the densely populated area. According to the Airwars.org, US-led air strikes in Iraq and Syria have killed a record number of civilians under Mr Trump.
The site, which tracks civilian casualties from air strikes in the Middle East, claims the CJFLCC-OIR has carried out 12,755 air strikes in Iraq to date.
International humanitarian law bars combatants from imperilling civilian lives through “indiscriminate use of firepower,” according to Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq.
A spokesperson for the US-led Operation Inherent Resolve defended the US’s tactics in March.
“Our goal has always been for zero civilian casualties, but the coalition will not abandon our commitment to our Iraqi partners because of Isis’s inhuman tactics terrorising civilians, using human shields, and fighting from protected sites such as schools, hospitals, religious sites and civilian neighbourhoods," he said.
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