Planted Islamic State explosives and not a U.S. airstrike were responsible for 105 Iraqi casualties in Mosul in March, according to the results of a U.S. Central Command investigation released Thursday.
The deadly collapse of a two-story building March 17 was caused by the explosives, which were detonated by a precision-guided U.S. bomb dropped to take out ISIS snipers, the investigation found.
The U.S. and Iraqi forces properly followed rules of engagement during the strike, had surveilled the building and believed it was occupied only by the ISIS fighters, said Brig. Gen. Matthew Isler, air officer with the Combined Joint Force Land Component Command for Operation Inherent Resolve.
“Neither coalition nor [Iraq Counter Terrorism Service] forces knew that civilians were sheltered within the structure,” he said.
The bomb dropped by a U.S. aircraft, a 500-pound joint direct attack munition, was chosen to kill the ISIS snipers on a second floor position and would not have collapsed the building, Isler said.
The incident in March represents the largest number of civilian casualties since the U.S. began its war against ISIS in Iraq in 2014. The Pentagon findings round down the estimated number of dead, which had been up to 200 or more.
Isler said ISIS had intentionally used the civilians as human shields in an attempt to boost civilian casualties and turn public opinion against U.S. and coalition forces.
