HRW calls for investigation of civilian casualties in Tal Afar ops
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A human rights organization has called on Iraqi military and US-led coalition forces to investigate the death of one person and the injuries of 11 others following an early-December strike in the southwestern Tal Afar district of Nineveh Province.
“Attacking forces are obligated to take all feasible precautions to avoid harming civilians, including by first identifying the military target,” said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), a global, non-governmental organization. “The large numbers of families on the move in ISIS-held territory are especially vulnerable to attacks.”
HRW said the strike was “most likely carried out by United States-led coalition or Iraqi government forces.”
On Thursday the rights monitor published testimony from the strike’s survivors, who were from the town of Ashwah, which is about 80 kilometers southwest of Mosul. Residents explained that in early December 2016, anticipating Iraqi and coalition forces approaching the ISIS-controlled town, several families set up an encampment of 10 tents about three kilometers away.
Two brothers, Musa and Sabah Ihrahim, their cousin, Salah Ali, and a friend, Shakir, returned to the village in a pickup to fill a water tank on December 10. Back in the tent encampment, the friend Shakir stayed in the truck while the other three got out to fill the camp’s communal tank.
A third brother, Ahmed, was nearby, tending sheep, when the truck pulled up.
“The guys got out of the car and Shakir, pulled over and parked. Just as he turned off the engine, I heard this loud blast, then I blacked out,” Ahmed said. He received minor back injuries.
Salah’s brother, Nouri, was in a nearby tent.
“I heard the whiz of a rocket, then a loud explosion,” Nouri said. “I had no idea what had been targeted but I ran out of my tent and saw Shakir’s pickup on fire. I ran over to the pickup and saw my brother Salah on the ground, his chest was open and he was covered in wounds and blood. He was already dead.”
Salah was 22-years old.
Musa received wounds to his hand and back. Sabah’s left leg was injured. Eight more of the Ibrahim brothers’ relatives, including seven children, were in a nearby tent, and suffered minor injuries.
Shakir, the driver, was uninjured.
“The witnesses said that no ISIS fighters were wounded in the attack, and none were nearby at the time,” HRW wrote.
Ahmed said he had seen an airplane flying over the area for several days and also 30 minutes before the strike.
The Combined Joint Task Force of the international coalition releases daily strike reports. Their report for December 10 states that an airstrike was carried out in the Tal Afar. “Near Tal Afar, one strike destroyed an ISIL armored vehicle.”
Strike reports lack precise locations, but do include strikes from artillery, war planes, and remotely piloted aircraft.
“Human Rights Watch was unable to determine whether this strike was the one in question,” the organization stated, noting that the Tal Afar region would include the site of the encampment.
Rudaw and HRW both reported Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary forces were battling to push ISIS out of Ashwah around this same time.
Haji Jawdat, a Shiite military official in Kirkuk, told Rudaw on December 14 that the Hashd al-Shaabi had announced the capture of Ashwah and its vicinities from ISIS militants.
“The town of Ashwah was the most important ISIS position in the area,” he said. “Taking control of the town removes ISIS threats on Tal Afar.”
The Shiite forces fighting in the area belonged to the League of the Righteous (Asa'ib Ahl al-Haqq) and the Ali al-Akbar Brigade (Lua Ali al-Akbar), according to HRW.
On December 19, Baghdad formally incorporated the Hashd al-Shaabi into the Iraqi armed forces.
HRW called on all government forces involved in the attack to conduct investigations into the incident.
“The governments should pursue war crimes prosecutions as appropriate, and pay compensation or ‘amends’ to victims,” HRW wrote. “Under Iraqi law, a governmental committee is empowered to provide payment to victims of ‘terrorism and military errors’.”
“Attacking forces are obligated to take all feasible precautions to avoid harming civilians, including by first identifying the military target,” said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), a global, non-governmental organization. “The large numbers of families on the move in ISIS-held territory are especially vulnerable to attacks.”
HRW said the strike was “most likely carried out by United States-led coalition or Iraqi government forces.”
On Thursday the rights monitor published testimony from the strike’s survivors, who were from the town of Ashwah, which is about 80 kilometers southwest of Mosul. Residents explained that in early December 2016, anticipating Iraqi and coalition forces approaching the ISIS-controlled town, several families set up an encampment of 10 tents about three kilometers away.
Two brothers, Musa and Sabah Ihrahim, their cousin, Salah Ali, and a friend, Shakir, returned to the village in a pickup to fill a water tank on December 10. Back in the tent encampment, the friend Shakir stayed in the truck while the other three got out to fill the camp’s communal tank.
A third brother, Ahmed, was nearby, tending sheep, when the truck pulled up.
“The guys got out of the car and Shakir, pulled over and parked. Just as he turned off the engine, I heard this loud blast, then I blacked out,” Ahmed said. He received minor back injuries.
Salah’s brother, Nouri, was in a nearby tent.
“I heard the whiz of a rocket, then a loud explosion,” Nouri said. “I had no idea what had been targeted but I ran out of my tent and saw Shakir’s pickup on fire. I ran over to the pickup and saw my brother Salah on the ground, his chest was open and he was covered in wounds and blood. He was already dead.”
Salah was 22-years old.
Musa received wounds to his hand and back. Sabah’s left leg was injured. Eight more of the Ibrahim brothers’ relatives, including seven children, were in a nearby tent, and suffered minor injuries.
Shakir, the driver, was uninjured.
“The witnesses said that no ISIS fighters were wounded in the attack, and none were nearby at the time,” HRW wrote.
Ahmed said he had seen an airplane flying over the area for several days and also 30 minutes before the strike.
The Combined Joint Task Force of the international coalition releases daily strike reports. Their report for December 10 states that an airstrike was carried out in the Tal Afar. “Near Tal Afar, one strike destroyed an ISIL armored vehicle.”
Strike reports lack precise locations, but do include strikes from artillery, war planes, and remotely piloted aircraft.
“Human Rights Watch was unable to determine whether this strike was the one in question,” the organization stated, noting that the Tal Afar region would include the site of the encampment.
Rudaw and HRW both reported Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary forces were battling to push ISIS out of Ashwah around this same time.
Haji Jawdat, a Shiite military official in Kirkuk, told Rudaw on December 14 that the Hashd al-Shaabi had announced the capture of Ashwah and its vicinities from ISIS militants.
“The town of Ashwah was the most important ISIS position in the area,” he said. “Taking control of the town removes ISIS threats on Tal Afar.”
The Shiite forces fighting in the area belonged to the League of the Righteous (Asa'ib Ahl al-Haqq) and the Ali al-Akbar Brigade (Lua Ali al-Akbar), according to HRW.
On December 19, Baghdad formally incorporated the Hashd al-Shaabi into the Iraqi armed forces.
HRW called on all government forces involved in the attack to conduct investigations into the incident.
“The governments should pursue war crimes prosecutions as appropriate, and pay compensation or ‘amends’ to victims,” HRW wrote. “Under Iraqi law, a governmental committee is empowered to provide payment to victims of ‘terrorism and military errors’.”