Strikes hit near Iraq hospital, possible civilian casualties

Coalition claims to take extensive measure to avoid civilians but NGO estimated more than 2,000 civilian deaths

WASHINGTON DC: The US-led coalition against the Islamic State group may have killed civilians in an air strike on a hospital car park in northern Iraq on Thursday, officials said.

The Iraqi army, supported by the coalition, began the second phase of its offensive to retake Iraq's second city of Mosul, which has been under IS control for more than two years.

Coalition aircraft had targeted a "van carrying IS fighters" in the area, according to CENTCOM, the US military command for the Middle East, using an alternate acronym for the IS group.



The strike took place "in what was later determined to be a hospital compound parking lot resulting in possible civilian casualties," a statement read.

IS fighters had been observed firing an anti-tank gun "before loading the weapon in the van and driving off," CENTCOM added, promising the incident would be "fully investigated and the findings released in a timely and transparent manner."

The coalition says it is taking extensive precautions to avoid killing civilians during its bombing of IS group targets. It routinely uses precision-guided bombs or missiles to hit targets that are often observed by drones for hours before being hit.



But the coalition has already admitted to killing at least 173 civilians in its strikes in Iraq and Syria since the start of its campaign against the IS group, a number independent observers believe is greatly understated.

The London-based NGO Airwars estimates the coalition campaign has actually killed more than 2,000 civilians.