MOSUL, Iraq: 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 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 coalition has now admitted more than 1,000 civilian lives were lost in the seven-year operation against the jihadist group in Iraq and Syria.
And for the first time the coalition has revealed to AFP that it has compensated the families of 14 victims in Iraq.