Rights group: U.S.-led alliance not protecting Mosul civilians

Mosul “points to an alarming pattern of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes which have destroyed whole houses with entire families inside,” the Amnesty report said.

It said any failure to take precautions to prevent civilian casualties would be “in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”

In Baghdad, visiting U.S. army chief of staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, said Monday that the exact cause of the March 17 explosion was still unknown, adding that “some degree of certainty will be known in the coming days following the investigation.”

“It is very possible that Daesh blew up that building to blame it on the coalition in order to cause a delay in the offensive into Mosul and cause a delay in the use of coalition airstrikes,” Milley told reporters. “And it is possible the coalition airstrike did it.”

Daesh is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.