An Iraqi woman cries as she arrives safely with her family to an Iraqi Army position after fleeing the Islamic State controlled Old City of west Mosul where heavy fighting continues on June 23, 2017. (Photo: Martyn Aim/Getty Images)
US-Led Assault on Mosul Killed Ten Times More Iraqi Civilians Than Military Admitted
New investigation sheds further light on the brutally high cost to civilians of the war on terror
The number of civilian causalities from the U.S.-backed battle to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State was 10 times higher than previously reported, an Associated Press investigation finds. That figure, says a human rights group, shows a brazen disregard for the need to minimize civilian harm.
"We are horrified, but not surprised, by these new figures," said Lynn Maalouf, head of research for Amnesty International in the Middle East.
AP says the figure is based on morgue records as well as databases from groups including Airwars, Amnesty International, and Iraq Body Count, as well as a report from the United Nations.
During the military campaign waged from October 2016 to July 2017, AP reports that between 9,000 and 11,000 people were killed; 4,200 were confirmed as civilian dead.
From AP:
Of the nearly 10,000 deaths the AP found, around a third of the casualties died in bombardments by the U.S.-led coalition or Iraqi forces, the AP analysis found. Another third of the dead were killed in the Islamic State group's final frenzy of violence. And it could not be determined which side was responsible for the deaths of the remainder, who were cowering in neighborhoods battered by airstrikes, ISIS explosives and mortar rounds from all sides.
Among the chilling details noted in the investigation are that morgue logs indicate many people were killed by being "blown to pieces" in west Mosul, where as ISIS fighters "packed hundreds of families into schools and government buildings," ostensibly to dissuade airstrikes. That tactic failed.
Many of the dead are still being excavated.
The reporting also notes that the coalition's "investigators have neither visited the morgue nor requested its data."
Amnesty's Maalouf said that the figures from the AP investigation "are directly in line with our previous findings that thousands of civilians were killed during the battle for Mosul--and that these deaths were caused not only by the so-called Islamic State group, but also by Iraqi and coalition forces."
"The failure of Iraqi and coalition forces to acknowledge and investigate civilian deaths in Mosul is a blatant abdication of responsibility. We are demanding transparency and an honest public account of the true cost to civilians from this war, as well as an immediate investigation by U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi forces into the violations and unlawful attacks documented by Amnesty International and other independent groups during the battle for Mosul," she added.
Questioned by AP about the tally, coalition spokesman Col. Thomas Veale said, "It is simply irresponsible to focus criticism on inadvertent casualties caused by the coalition's war to defeat ISIS."
Yet as author and commentator Tom Engelhardt has previously observed, "from Afghanistan to Libya, the war on terror has (not to mince words) been murder on civilian populations."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
The number of civilian causalities from the U.S.-backed battle to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State was 10 times higher than previously reported, an Associated Press investigation finds. That figure, says a human rights group, shows a brazen disregard for the need to minimize civilian harm.
"We are horrified, but not surprised, by these new figures," said Lynn Maalouf, head of research for Amnesty International in the Middle East.
AP says the figure is based on morgue records as well as databases from groups including Airwars, Amnesty International, and Iraq Body Count, as well as a report from the United Nations.
During the military campaign waged from October 2016 to July 2017, AP reports that between 9,000 and 11,000 people were killed; 4,200 were confirmed as civilian dead.
From AP:
Of the nearly 10,000 deaths the AP found, around a third of the casualties died in bombardments by the U.S.-led coalition or Iraqi forces, the AP analysis found. Another third of the dead were killed in the Islamic State group's final frenzy of violence. And it could not be determined which side was responsible for the deaths of the remainder, who were cowering in neighborhoods battered by airstrikes, ISIS explosives and mortar rounds from all sides.
Among the chilling details noted in the investigation are that morgue logs indicate many people were killed by being "blown to pieces" in west Mosul, where as ISIS fighters "packed hundreds of families into schools and government buildings," ostensibly to dissuade airstrikes. That tactic failed.
Many of the dead are still being excavated.
The reporting also notes that the coalition's "investigators have neither visited the morgue nor requested its data."
Amnesty's Maalouf said that the figures from the AP investigation "are directly in line with our previous findings that thousands of civilians were killed during the battle for Mosul--and that these deaths were caused not only by the so-called Islamic State group, but also by Iraqi and coalition forces."
"The failure of Iraqi and coalition forces to acknowledge and investigate civilian deaths in Mosul is a blatant abdication of responsibility. We are demanding transparency and an honest public account of the true cost to civilians from this war, as well as an immediate investigation by U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi forces into the violations and unlawful attacks documented by Amnesty International and other independent groups during the battle for Mosul," she added.
Questioned by AP about the tally, coalition spokesman Col. Thomas Veale said, "It is simply irresponsible to focus criticism on inadvertent casualties caused by the coalition's war to defeat ISIS."
Yet as author and commentator Tom Engelhardt has previously observed, "from Afghanistan to Libya, the war on terror has (not to mince words) been murder on civilian populations."
The number of civilian causalities from the U.S.-backed battle to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State was 10 times higher than previously reported, an Associated Press investigation finds. That figure, says a human rights group, shows a brazen disregard for the need to minimize civilian harm.
"We are horrified, but not surprised, by these new figures," said Lynn Maalouf, head of research for Amnesty International in the Middle East.
AP says the figure is based on morgue records as well as databases from groups including Airwars, Amnesty International, and Iraq Body Count, as well as a report from the United Nations.
During the military campaign waged from October 2016 to July 2017, AP reports that between 9,000 and 11,000 people were killed; 4,200 were confirmed as civilian dead.
From AP:
Of the nearly 10,000 deaths the AP found, around a third of the casualties died in bombardments by the U.S.-led coalition or Iraqi forces, the AP analysis found. Another third of the dead were killed in the Islamic State group's final frenzy of violence. And it could not be determined which side was responsible for the deaths of the remainder, who were cowering in neighborhoods battered by airstrikes, ISIS explosives and mortar rounds from all sides.
Among the chilling details noted in the investigation are that morgue logs indicate many people were killed by being "blown to pieces" in west Mosul, where as ISIS fighters "packed hundreds of families into schools and government buildings," ostensibly to dissuade airstrikes. That tactic failed.
Many of the dead are still being excavated.
The reporting also notes that the coalition's "investigators have neither visited the morgue nor requested its data."
Amnesty's Maalouf said that the figures from the AP investigation "are directly in line with our previous findings that thousands of civilians were killed during the battle for Mosul--and that these deaths were caused not only by the so-called Islamic State group, but also by Iraqi and coalition forces."
"The failure of Iraqi and coalition forces to acknowledge and investigate civilian deaths in Mosul is a blatant abdication of responsibility. We are demanding transparency and an honest public account of the true cost to civilians from this war, as well as an immediate investigation by U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi forces into the violations and unlawful attacks documented by Amnesty International and other independent groups during the battle for Mosul," she added.
Questioned by AP about the tally, coalition spokesman Col. Thomas Veale said, "It is simply irresponsible to focus criticism on inadvertent casualties caused by the coalition's war to defeat ISIS."
Yet as author and commentator Tom Engelhardt has previously observed, "from Afghanistan to Libya, the war on terror has (not to mince words) been murder on civilian populations."