US official says there’s a ‘fair chance’ airstrike killed civilians in Mosul

Barbara Starr Ryan Browne Holly Yan
By Barbara Starr, Ryan Browne and Holly Yan, CNN
Updated 9:31 PM EDT, Tue March 28, 2017
02:22 - Source: CNN
A walk through the devastation of West Mosul

Story highlights

Townsend: ISIS may have been using civilians as human shields

Iraqi official: 112 bodies have been pulled from the site of a March 17 airstrike

CNN  — 

The top US commander in Iraq said “there’s a fair chance” that a US airstrike in west Mosul killed civilians on March 17.

“We have an investigation going on, but our initial assessment … shows we did strike in that area, there were multiple strikes in that area, so is it possible that we did that? Yes, I think it is possible,” Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend told reporters Tuesday.

“Because we struck in that area, I think there’s a fair chance that we did it.”

A man mourns on March 17 as of Iraqi residents of west Mosul killed in an airstrike targeting Islamic State jihadists are placed and covered with blankets on carts.
A man mourns on March 17 as of Iraqi residents of west Mosul killed in an airstrike targeting Islamic State jihadists are placed and covered with blankets on carts.
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images

Mosul: 112 civilian bodies pulled from site of coalition airstrike

Townsend, commander of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, said the US has sent experts to the scene of the airstrike in west Mosul to investigate allegations of civilian casualties.

He said investigators are assessing whether ISIS was fighting from the building with civilians in order to “lure” the US “deliberately, or they were just using them as human shields to try to protect their fighting position.”

“We know ISIS were fighting from that position in that building. And there were people that you really can’t account for in any other way why they would all be there unless they were forced there. So that’s my initial impression, the enemy had a hand in this, and there’s also a fair chance our strike had some role in it,” Townsend said.

Residents of Mosul, Iraq, remove the bodies of Iraqis who were killed in an airstrike targeting the Islamic State (ISIS) on March 17, 2017. Iraq is investigating airstrikes in west Mosul that reportedly killed large numbers of civilians in recent days, a military spokesman said.
Photos: Gathering the dead after airstrikes in Mosul
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
Residents of Mosul, Iraq, remove the bodies of Iraqis who were killed in an airstrike targeting the Islamic State (ISIS) on March 17, 2017. Iraq is investigating airstrikes in west Mosul that reportedly killed large numbers of civilians in recent days, a military spokesman said.
Relatives mourn as bodies of Iraqis killed in a Mosul airstrike are placed on carts on March 17.
Photos: Gathering the dead after airstrikes in Mosul
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
Relatives mourn as bodies of Iraqis killed in a Mosul airstrike are placed on carts on March 17.
A man breaks down in tears while grieving for victims of a deadly airstrike in Mosul on March 17.
Photos: Gathering the dead after airstrikes in Mosul
Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images
A man breaks down in tears while grieving for victims of a deadly airstrike in Mosul on March 17.
Residents carry the bodies of people killed during skirmishes between Iraq security forces and ISIS on the western side of Mosul on Friday, March 24, 2017. Residents of the al Jadidah neighborhood say scores of civilians are believed to have been killed by airstrikes that hit a cluster of homes in the area earlier this month.
Photos: Gathering the dead after airstrikes in Mosul
Felipe Dana/AP
Residents carry the bodies of people killed during skirmishes between Iraq security forces and ISIS on the western side of Mosul on Friday, March 24, 2017. Residents of the al Jadidah neighborhood say scores of civilians are believed to have been killed by airstrikes that hit a cluster of homes in the area earlier this month.
Civil protection rescue teams comb through the debris of a destroyed house to recover the bodies of people killed during fights between Iraq security forces and the Islamic State on the western side of Mosul.
Photos: Gathering the dead after airstrikes in Mosul
Felipe Dana/AP
Civil protection rescue teams comb through the debris of a destroyed house to recover the bodies of people killed during fights between Iraq security forces and the Islamic State on the western side of Mosul.
A man covers his face from the smell of corpses in the al Jadidah neighborhood of Mosul on March 24, 2017.
Photos: Gathering the dead after airstrikes in Mosul
Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
A man covers his face from the smell of corpses in the al Jadidah neighborhood of Mosul on March 24, 2017.
Residents pile body bags into the back of a pickup truck after recovering them from the rubble in the al Jadidah neighborhood of Mosul.
Photos: Gathering the dead after airstrikes in Mosul
Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
Residents pile body bags into the back of a pickup truck after recovering them from the rubble in the al Jadidah neighborhood of Mosul.
Residents help Iraqi civil defense force members recover corpses trapped in the rubble of a home destroyed by reported coalition airstrikes in the al Jadidah neighborhood of Mosul on March 24, 2017.
Photos: Gathering the dead after airstrikes in Mosul
Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
Residents help Iraqi civil defense force members recover corpses trapped in the rubble of a home destroyed by reported coalition airstrikes in the al Jadidah neighborhood of Mosul on March 24, 2017.
Local volunteers carry the bodies of civilians found in the rubble of a building in the al Jadidah neighborhood of Mosul.
Photos: Gathering the dead after airstrikes in Mosul
The Washington Post/Getty Images
Local volunteers carry the bodies of civilians found in the rubble of a building in the al Jadidah neighborhood of Mosul.
An Iraqi rescue worker gestures towards bodies wrapped in plastic in the al Jadidah area on March 26, 2017, following airstrikes in which civilians were reportedly killed.
Photos: Gathering the dead after airstrikes in Mosul
AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images
An Iraqi rescue worker gestures towards bodies wrapped in plastic in the al Jadidah area on March 26, 2017, following airstrikes in which civilians were reportedly killed.

On Monday, a senior Iraqi health official said 112 bodies had been pulled from the site of a March 17 US-led coalition airstrike in west Mosul.

Both the Iraqi and US defense departments have launched investigations into possible civilian deaths in airstrikes between March 17 and 23.

ISIS’ last stronghold in Iraq

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On the ground in Mosul

US and Iraqi forces have been trying to regain control of Mosul – Iraq’s second-largest city – from ISIS since October.

ISIS had a firm grip on Mosul since 2014, but suffered a huge blow when Iraqi security forces took control of eastern Mosul in January.

But the arduous fight for western Mosul continues.

CNN’s Arwa Damon, reporting from western Mosul, said the destruction is widespread. But many families couldn’t escape because ISIS has been using civilians as human shields.

She said it’s not surprising many civilians would be packed in one place.

“In an effort to protect themselves, a lot of families would cram into homes that they believed would be the sturdiest,” Damon said. “But as the fighting pushed forward, as airstrikes were called in, there have been significant civilian casualties.”