U.S. military acknowledges strike on Mosul site where more than 100 were allegedly killed

[BeyondGeography]

Source: Washington Post

The U.S. military acknowledged for the first time Saturday that it launched an airstrike against the Islamic State last week in the densely packed Iraqi city of Mosul where residents say more than 100 people were killed.

“An initial review of strike data … indicates that, at the request of the Iraqi security forces, the Coalition struck ISIS fighters and equipment, March 17, in west Mosul at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties,” the task force leading the coalition said in a statement.

Previously, the U.S.-led coalition had said that officials were unsure whether the United States had conducted air attacks targeting the affected site in Mosul al-Jadida where local officials say they have so far pulled at least 60 bodies from one destroyed building.

The U.S. military is conducting an initial investigation into the incident.

If confirmed, the incident would mark the greatest loss of civilian life since the United States began strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria in 2014. The allegations add to questions about the conduct of the campaign to recapture Mosul, where reports of civilian deaths are rising as government-aligned forces advance through a fiercely contested urban area.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/03/25/u-s-military-acknowledges-strike-on-mosul-site-where-over-100-were-allegedly-killed/?utm_term=.303a7581f0cc

[Jonny Appleseed]

1. Russian "bomb wherever the fuck you want" tactics

Especially hospitals and pet sanctuaries.

[BeyondGeography]

2. From the article

President Trump has already asked military leaders to consider whether requirements on U.S. military operations against the group should be loosened.

[Eugene]

3. Iraq suspends Mosul offensive after coalition airstrike atrocity

Source: The Guardian

Iraq suspends Mosul offensive after coalition airstrike atrocity

Move comes as international outrage grows over airstrikes that killed
at least 150 people in Mosul Jadida neighbourhood

Martin Chulov in Mosul, and Emma Graham-Harrison
Saturday 25 March 2017 17.35 GMT

Iraqi military leaders have ordered a pause in their push to recapture west Mosul from Islamic State as international outrage mounted over a series of airstrikes that killed at least 150 people in one district of the embattled city alone.

Rescuers continued to retrieve bodies from the rubble of the Mosul Jadida neighbourhood on Saturday, more than a week after the coalition attacks, which are believed to have led to one of the highest civilian tolls in the region since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

A US Centcom statement confirmed coalition planes had carried out the attack on 17 March “at the request of the Iraqi security forces” and pledged to formally investigate the claims. The strike has intensified focus on civilian casualties in Mosul, where as many as 400,000 residents are thought to remain.

British planes were among those operating in west Mosul at the time. Asked if they could have been involved in the airstrikes, a spokesman said the Ministry of Defence had not seen any evidence of their involvement but did not rule out the possibility, adding: “We are aware of reports [of civilian casualties], and will support the coalition investigation as required.”

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/25/iraq-suspends-mosul-offensive-after-coalition-airstrike-atrocity

[TomCADem]

4. NYT: Trump Administration Is Said to Be Working to Loosen Counterterrorism Rules

Well, Trump did manage to reverse one President Obama policy, which was to try to prevent civilian deaths. A few weeks ago it was reported that Trump was giving the greenlight to loosen the rules of engagement and he already has some results.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/12/us/politics/trump-loosen-counterterrorism-rules.html?_r=0

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is exploring how to dismantle or bypass Obama-era constraints intended to prevent civilian deaths from drone attacks, commando raids and other counterterrorism missions outside conventional war zones like Afghanistan and Iraq, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations.

Already, President Trump has granted a Pentagon request to declare parts of three provinces of Yemen to be an “area of active hostilities” where looser battlefield rules apply. That opened the door to a Special Operations raid in late January in which several civilians were killed, as well as to the largest-ever series of American airstrikes targeting Yemen-based Qaeda militants, starting nearly two weeks ago, the officials said.

Mr. Trump is also expected to sign off soon on a similar Pentagon proposal to designate parts of Somalia to be another such battlefield-style zone for 180 days, removing constraints on airstrikes and raids targeting people suspected of being militants with the Qaeda-linked group the Shabab, they said.

Inside the White House, the temporary suspension of the limits for parts of Yemen and Somalia is seen as a test run while the government considers whether to more broadly rescind or relax the Obama-era rules, said the officials, who described the internal deliberations on the condition of anonymity.

[ManiacJoe]

5. Reports of civilians being used as human shields by ISIS

at the bottom of the article.