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US committed ‘flagrant violation of international law’ in Mosul

March 28, 2017 at 12:47 pm

Iraqi children take refuge at a refugee camp in Iraq on 19 March 2017 (Yunus Keleş /Anadolu Agency)

Amnesty International has accused the US-led coalition in Iraq of committing “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law” following bombings in Mosul which are reported to have killed over 200 people.

The rights group stated that there are serious questions about the lawfulness of these attacks following the high casualty numbers resulting from US-led coalition airstrikes and ground fighting between the Iraqi military and Daesh fighters in recent months.

Donatella Rovera, senior crisis response adviser at Amnesty International, said:

Evidence gathered on the ground in East Mosul points to an alarming pattern of US-led coalition airstrikes which have destroyed whole houses with entire families inside. The high civilian toll suggests that coalition forces leading the offensive in Mosul have failed to take adequate precautions to prevent civilian deaths, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

Rovera, who carried out field investigations in Mosul following the attack added: “Hundreds of civilians have been killed by airstrikes inside their homes or in places where they sought refuge after following Iraqi government advice not to leave during the offensive to recapture the city of Mosul from IS [Daesh].”

Amnesty called on the Iraqi government and the US-led coalition to “immediately launch an independent and impartial investigation into the appalling civilian death toll resulting from the Mosul operation.”