Roof knock bomb alert

Civilians warned

WASHINGTON, April 27, (Agencies): The United States borrowed an Israeli military tactic known as “roof knocking” to try to warn civilians before it dropped a bomb targeting Islamic State fighters in Iraq this month, but a woman was killed in the attack, a US military official said on Tuesday.

The controversial tactic consists of firing a warning missile above or near an intended target, to give residents time to flee before the real strike.

The Israeli military used such “roof knocks” in the 2014 Gaza war, but a United Nations commission found in 2015 that the tactic was not effective, because it often caused confusion and did not give residents enough time to escape.

The United States used the tactic in an April 5 operation in the Iraqi city of Mosul. One woman who initially did leave the targeted building but then ran back inside was killed, a US defense official said.

Air Force Major General Peter Gersten, deputy commander for operations and intelligence for the US-led coalition, said the airstrike targeted a building that housed a member of Islamic State in charge of distributing money to fighters, as well as being a cash storage site.

Gersten

Reconnaissance

US intelligence and reconnaissance aircraft tracked the site and observed that a woman and children also frequented the house, which the United States believed to contain about $150 million.

Looking to ensure they and any other non-combatants were clear of the building, the military turned to a tactic used by the Israeli Defense Forces in some of its operations against Hamas militants, Gersten said.

The plan consisted of firing a Hellfire missile above the building “so it wouldn’t destroy the building, simply knock on the roof to ensure that she and the children were out of the building,” he said.

“We’ve certainly watched and observed their procedure,” Gersten said of the Israelis, while noting that the military did not coordinate with the Israelis on the strike. “As we formulated the way to get the civilians out of the house, this (technique) was brought forward from one of our experts.”

But the woman ran back into the building after the US warplane had fired its weapon, Gersten said, adding that it was “very difficult for us to watch and it was within the final seconds of the actual impact.”

The US-led coalition could employ the roof knock technique again in the future, he said.

The air campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria has been a key part of the US plan to eventually destroy the hardline Sunni militant group.

But Islamic State’s presence in major Iraqi and Syrian cities has made it difficult to destroy its most important headquarters, because of concerns about killing scores of innocents in the process.

The US military acknowledges killing 41 civilians so far in the air campaign, which began in 2014.

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The US Pacific Fleet commander said he plans to expand the role of the US 3rd Fleet commander and her staff in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Pacific Fleet consists of the 3rd Fleet headquartered in San Diego and the 7th Fleet headquartered in Yokosuka, Japan. For decades, the 7th Fleet has taken command of 3rd Fleet ships when they crossed the international dateline.

But Adm Scott Swift said Tuesday he plans to have 3rd Fleet commander Vice-Adm Nora Tyson and her staff maintain operational control of some of these ships when they travel west. For example, he says the 3rd Fleet could lead the Navy’s response to a tsunami while the 7th Fleet focuses on Japanese earthquake relief.

The Navy hasn’t been taking full advantage of 3rd Fleet capacity and capability, Swift said.

The first sailors to deploy under this arrangement are scheduled to leave Pearl Harbor on Wednesday. Their ships —the USS Momsen, based in Everett, Washington, and the USS Decatur and USS Spruance based in San Diego, California — are deploying together as a surface action group.

The 3rd Fleet leaders can help out the 7th Fleet, which is already busy in the Asia-Pacific region, Swift said.

“The future is very unpredictable. If we hit that capacity point, we don’t want to find ourselves for the first time asking the question, well let’s see what we can do with 3rd Fleet. We need to start those actions now,” Swift told reporters after speaking to sailors on the Momsen.