The U.S. blamed the Islamic State this week for reported civilian deaths after an airstrike against a bomb factory in northern Iraq.
Air Force Lt. Gen. John Hesterman, commander of the Combined Forces Air Component of Operation Inherent Resolve, said the airstrike at a factory in al-Hawija, Iraq, that the Islamic State was believed to be using to build vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, was targeted “after a very disciplined targeting process.”
“We dropped a fairly small weapon on a known IED building in an industrial area,” Hesterman said. “The secondary explosion, which was because of a massive amount of Daesh [ISIS] high explosives, was very large and it destroyed much of that industrial area.
Hesterman said the U.S. is looking into reports that there were as many as 70 civilian casualties from the airstrike.
“We haven’t seen any evidence of civilian casualties so far, but we’ll conscientiously look into it as we do with every allegation,” he said, adding that “let’s be clear — what did the damage was the huge amount of high explosives that Daesh intended to turn into murderous weapons to kill Iraqi forces and innocent civilians. If there are unintended injuries, that responsibility rests squarely on Daesh.”
