Washington – A U.S.-led airstrike in March that targeted a building in Mosul, Iraq, killed over 100 civilians, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
“The March 17 coalition airstrike in the al-Jadidah district of Mosul targeted two Islamic State snipers in the building who had engaged Iraqi counter-terrorism forces.
“Neither the coalition nor Iraqi forces knew that civilians were in the building, nor did they know that Islamic State place explosives in the building that triggered a secondary explosion.
“The two snipers, 101 civilians sheltered in the bottom floors of the building and four civilians in a neighbouring structure were killed.
“An additional 36 civilians remain unaccounted for,’’ the Pentagon said in a report on the investigation it conducted on the attack.
The coalition said a local commander ordered the airstrike, which was carried using one precision-guided bomb.
The report said the bomb was “the most appropriate and proportionate means of engagement to neutralise the threat and to minimise collateral damage.”
It said that Maj.-Gen. Joe Martin, Commanding General of coalition forces, expressed his condolence to the families of those killed and injured in the airstrike.