There is a “fair chance” a coalition airstrike cause the civilian casualties of March 17, Gen. Stephen Townsend told reporters on Tuesday.
From his initial assessment, he believes the coalition “probably” had a role in the deaths, but added that the munitions used should not have caused the collapse of the entire building. An investigation is ongoing, he said.
On March 17, an estimated more than 130 civilians were killed in an explosion in west Mosul’s al-Jadida neighbourhood.
Human Rights Watch’s senior researcher Belkis Wille told Rudaw on Monday that local residents say they have pulled 100 bodies out of the rubble and have the names for another 37 they were searching for. The witnesses reported that an entire building had collapsed on the people.
ISIS has frequently used human shields as it battles to hold onto its territory in Iraq and Syria.
Some reports indicate an airstrike hit explosives laid by ISIS around a house where the extremist group had gathered civilians. The Iraqi army’s Joint Command has denied it was an airstrike, saying their investigations revealed the walls of the house had been rigged with bombs by the extremist group.
Iraqi forces have restricted media and NGO access to the area. The coalition and Iraqi forces have both stated they are investigating the incident.
The UN human rights chief urged Iraq and the coalition to make the findings of their investigations public. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein also called on them to “undertake an urgent review of tactics to ensure that the impact on civilians is reduced to an absolute minimum, in full accordance with international humanitarian law,” in a statement published Tuesday.
According to UN figures, at least 307 people have been killed and another 273 wounded between February 17 and March 22, with March 17 being the deadliest day.
“ISIL’s strategy of using children, men and women to shield themselves from attack is cowardly and disgraceful,” Zeid said, using an alternate acronym for ISIS. “It reaches the most basic standards of human dignity and morality.”
Noting that ISIS deliberately puts civilian populations into danger, Zeid said that Iraqi and coalition forces must not fall into this trap, but should consider all tactics available in order to protect civilians.
Amnesty International, in a report published on Tuesday, accused the coalition of not taking adequate measures to protect civilians.
“The fact that Iraqi authorities repeatedly advised civilians to remain at home instead of fleeing the area, indicates that coalition forces should have known that these strikes were likely to result in significant numbers of civilian casualties,” said Amnesty’s Donatella Rovera who has conducted field investigations in Mosul.
“Disproportionate attacks and indiscriminate attacks violate international humanitarian law and can constitute war crimes.”
In advance of the Mosul offensive, launched on October 17 last year, Iraqi forces advised Mosul civilians to remain in place if they could in order to limit mass displacement of people. An estimated 600,000 civilians are still living in west Mosul.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in his weekly press conference on Tuesday that the offensive will not stop in light of the reported loss of civilians lives.
"They try to draw accusations against our security forces. While the area they talk about, and where innocent civilians fell in one house, this area is under the control of the Counter-Terrorism Service, and it is the Golden Force who are the pride of Iraqis,” he said, adding that the people of Mosul have welcomed these forces with open arms.
He said that Iraqi forces are being accused by some who sided with ISIS two and a half years ago when the group overran the city.
“There is no place for ISIS in Iraq,” Abadi said, adding that Iraq will hold ISIS to account for their crimes.
