US ‘probably behind Iraq civilian deaths’

A TOP US general in Iraq has admitted American-led coalition forces probably played a part in an attack on a Mosul neighbourhood which left at least 100 dead.

Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend said militants might have gathered civilians into a building which was hit. He said an investigation was underway to determine if Islamic State had purposefully moved people there.

Speaking from Iraq, Lt General Townsend, said: ‘My initial assessment is that we probably had a role in these casualties. What I don’t know is, were they [the civilians] gathered there by the enemy? We still have some assessments to do. It sure looks like they were.’

Conflicting accounts have emerged since the March 17 explosion in the al-Jadida district in west Mosul, where Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition air strikes are fighting to clear Islamic State militants. Investigators want to determine whether a US-led coalition strike or Islamic State-rigged explosives caused a blast that destroyed buildings and killed more than 100 people.

Meanwhile RAF pilots were taking ‘all steps necessary’ to minimise civilian casualties – despite dropping bombs in dense urban areas and against ‘inhuman tactics’, officials said yesterday.

Islamic State’s ‘illegal use of civilians as human shields’ and fighting from schools, hospitals and religious sites ‘increases the risk to innocent life’, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

A spokesman said closely-packed buildings, very narrow streets, and the density of the urban population made for a ‘very challenging’ operating environment.

A statement said that while no military operations come without their risks, the RAF continues to take measures to minimise any civilian deaths.