A man looks at a damaged building in the Zanjili neighbourhood of Iraq's northern city of Mosul on March 19, 2021. Months before the recapture of Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) group, a new human toll was added to the growing tragedy: more than 100 civilians had been killed in a single coalition air strike. The coalition has now admitted more than 1,000 civilian lives were lost in the 7-year operation against the jihadist group, revealing to AFP for the first time that it has compensated the families of 14 victims in Iraq. Four years later many are still trying to find out where and how to claim damages due to them, with a compensation system considered opaque even for those with expertise. AFP PHOTO
Thousands of civilians injured and some killed are still waiting for the United States to pay them as they were wrongfully targeted in the decades-long wait that ended in their defeat.
It was March 17, 2017. Troops from the US-led coalition fighting jihadists in Iraq were advancing on Mosul's Old City, squeezing out the Islamic State (IS) group.
But just months before the recapture of the city, where IS had declared its caliphate in 2014, a new human toll was added to the growing tragedy when it was revealed more than 100 civilians had been killed in a single coalition air strike.
The compensation system is opaque even for those with expertise, said Sarah Holewinski, Washington director for Human Rights Watch. "They have sometimes paid, sometimes not. We need degrees to figure out laws and channels," she told AFP.
It was March 17, 2017. Troops from the US-led coalition fighting jihadists in Iraq were advancing on Mosul's Old City, squeezing out the Islamic State (IS) group.
But just months before the recapture of the city, where IS had declared its caliphate in 2014, a new human toll was added to the growing tragedy when it was revealed more than 100 civilians had been killed in a single coalition air strike.
The compensation system is opaque even for those with expertise, said Sarah Holewinski, Washington director for Human Rights Watch. "They have sometimes paid, sometimes not. We need degrees to figure out laws and channels," she told AFP.
"I can't even imagine being an Iraqi woman who has lost her mother trying to figure out not just, do I have any kind of compensation, but how do I get some American to say 'hey that was actually one of our bombs.'"
It was one of those American bombs that changed the life of former truck driver Khalil on March 17, 2017, "at 8:10 a.m. exactly" in Mosul al-Jadidah - New Mosul in Arabic.
"There was a bombing and I was buried under rubble" until "around 11 a.m. when I heard people coming to rescue us," said the 51-year-old.
The explosion and collapse of the building where he had been sheltering dozens of women, men and children caused the largest single civilian death toll in the fight against IS.
Source (Click Here)
It was one of those American bombs that changed the life of former truck driver Khalil on March 17, 2017, "at 8:10 a.m. exactly" in Mosul al-Jadidah - New Mosul in Arabic.
"There was a bombing and I was buried under rubble" until "around 11 a.m. when I heard people coming to rescue us," said the 51-year-old.
The explosion and collapse of the building where he had been sheltering dozens of women, men and children caused the largest single civilian death toll in the fight against IS.
Source (Click Here)
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