The US-led anti-jihadist coalition said Tuesday it &quot;probably&quot; played a role in civilian casualties in west Mosul, as the UN and Amnesty International called for greater efforts to protect civilians.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians are still inside west Mosul, caught up in deadly fighting between the Islamic State (IS) group and Iraqi forces who are backed by coalition air strikes in the battle to retake the area from the jihadists.

West Mosul is both smaller and more densely populated than the city&#39;s east, meaning that this stage of the battle poses a greater danger to civilians than those that came before.

&quot;We probably had a role in those casualties,&quot; Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the commander of the US-led operation against IS, told reporters in a phone briefing from Baghdad, referring to civilians killed and wounded by aerial bombing in west Mosul.

&quot;If those innocents were killed, it was an unintentional accident of war,&quot; he said.

Townsend described the fighting in the narrow streets of Iraq&#39;s second city as the &quot;most significant urban combat&quot; since World War II and &quot;probably the toughest and most brutal close-quarters combat that I have experienced in my 35 years of service&quot;.

The coalition had previously said it carried out a strike on March 17 in an area of west Mosul in which civilian casualties were reported, and that it had opened an investigation.

Iraq is also investigating civilian deaths in west Mosul, but has sought to place the blame on IS.

UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said Tuesday that more than 300 civilians have been killed in west Mosul since February 17.

IS has targeted civilians and used them as human shields, while strikes by anti-IS forces have also left civilians dead.

UN human rights chief Zeid Ra&#39;ad Al Hussein called on Iraqi and US-led coalition forces &quot;to undertake an urgent review of tactics to ensure that the impact on civilians is reduced to an absolute minimum&quot;.

IS&#39;s &quot;strategy of using children, men and women to shield themselves from attack is cowardly and disgraceful. It breaches the most basic standards of human dignity and morality,&quot; he said.

Amnesty&#39;s Donatella Rovera said field research in east Mosul -- which was recaptured from IS in January -- showed &quot;an alarming pattern of US-led coalition air strikes which have destroyed whole houses with entire families inside&quot;.

&nbsp;

Jihadists deployed among civilians

&quot;The high civilian toll suggests that coalition forces... have failed to take adequate precautions to prevent civilian deaths, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,&quot; she said.

In the east, the Iraqi forces adopted a strategy of encouraging civilians to stay at home, dropping leaflets into the city with safety instructions for residents.

&quot;The fact that Iraqi authorities repeatedly advised civilians to remain at home instead of fleeing the area, indicates that coalition forces should have known that these strikes were likely to result in a significant numbers of civilian casualties,&quot; Rovera said.

Amnesty quoted Waad Ahmad al-Tai, an east Mosul resident, as saying six members of his extended family -- including his nine-year-old son and three-year-old daughter -- were killed after they followed government advice not to flee the city.

&quot;We heard these instructions on the radio...Also leaflets were dropped by planes. This is why we stayed in our homes,&quot; he said.

Amnesty said that, in many cases it investigated, east Mosul residents said IS fighters had been present in or near houses targeted in the strikes.

In one case, five members of a family and their neighbour were killed in a raid on a house where IS fighters were hiding but the jihadists survived that attack, Amnesty quoted survivors as saying. That pattern has also been repeated in west Mosul, according to witnesses.

Two witnesses who have now fled the city said that a building with around 170 people inside was destroyed in the Mosul al-Jadida area.

One of them said that IS snipers had fired on Iraqi forces, after which an aircraft targeted them with a missile. Another man said that IS placed snipers atop a house where he was residing with more than 20 relatives.

He was told that an air strike hit the house, an attack he survived because he was away at the time.

More than 200,000 civilians have fled west Mosul since the battle for the area began, according to Iraqi authorities.

(AFP)

West Mosul is smaller and more densely populated than the city's east, meaning this stage of the battle poses a greater danger to civilians

The US-led anti-jihadist coalition said Tuesday it "probably" played a role in civilian casualties in west Mosul, as the UN and Amnesty International called for greater efforts to protect civilians. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are still inside west Mosul, caught up in deadly fighting between the Islamic State (IS) group and Iraqi forces who are backed by coalition air strikes in the battle to retake the area from the jihadists. West Mosul is both smaller and more densely populated than the city's east, meaning that this stage of the battle poses a greater danger to civilians than those that came before. "We probably had a role in those casualties," Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the commander of the US-led operation against IS, told reporters in a phone briefing from Baghdad, referring to civilians killed and wounded by aerial bombing in west Mosul. "If those innocents were killed, it was an unintentional accident of war," he said. Townsend described the fighting in the narrow streets of Iraq's second city as the "most significant urban combat" since World War II and "probably the toughest and most brutal close-quarters combat that I have experienced in my 35 years of service". The coalition had previously said it carried out a strike on March 17 in an area of west Mosul in which civilian casualties were reported, and that it had opened an investigation. Iraq is also investigating civilian deaths in west Mosul, but has sought to place the blame on IS. UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said Tuesday that more than 300 civilians have been killed in west Mosul since February 17. IS has targeted civilians and used them as human shields, while strikes by anti-IS forces have also left civilians dead. UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein called on Iraqi and US-led coalition forces "to undertake an urgent review of tactics to ensure that the impact on civilians is reduced to an absolute minimum". IS's "strategy of using children, men and women to shield themselves from attack is cowardly and disgraceful. It breaches the most basic standards of human dignity and morality," he said. Amnesty's Donatella Rovera said field research in east Mosul -- which was recaptured from IS in January -- showed "an alarming pattern of US-led coalition air strikes which have destroyed whole houses with entire families inside". Jihadists deployed among civilians "The high civilian toll suggests that coalition forces... have failed to take adequate precautions to prevent civilian deaths, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law," she said. In the east, the Iraqi forces adopted a strategy of encouraging civilians to stay at home, dropping leaflets into the city with safety instructions for residents. "The fact that Iraqi authorities repeatedly advised civilians to remain at home instead of fleeing the area, indicates that coalition forces should have known that these strikes were likely to result in a significant numbers of civilian casualties," Rovera said. Amnesty quoted Waad Ahmad al-Tai, an east Mosul resident, as saying six members of his extended family -- including his nine-year-old son and three-year-old daughter -- were killed after they followed government advice not to flee the city. "We heard these instructions on the radio...Also leaflets were dropped by planes. This is why we stayed in our homes," he said. Amnesty said that, in many cases it investigated, east Mosul residents said IS fighters had been present in or near houses targeted in the strikes. In one case, five members of a family and their neighbour were killed in a raid on a house where IS fighters were hiding but the jihadists survived that attack, Amnesty quoted survivors as saying. That pattern has also been repeated in west Mosul, according to witnesses. Two witnesses who have now fled the city said that a building with around 170 people inside was destroyed in the Mosul al-Jadida area. One of them said that IS snipers had fired on Iraqi forces, after which an aircraft targeted them with a missile. Another man said that IS placed snipers atop a house where he was residing with more than 20 relatives. He was told that an air strike hit the house, an attack he survived because he was away at the time. More than 200,000 civilians have fled west Mosul since the battle for the area began, according to Iraqi authorities. (AFP)

US-led coalition 'probably' had role in Mosul civilian casualties

The US&nbsp;military said on Saturday a US-led coalition strike had hit an Islamic State-held area of the Iraqi city of Mosul where residents and officials say dozens of civilians have been killed as result of an air raid.

The incident occurred on March 17 but what exactly happened is still unclear as IS militants fight to defend the areas of the city they still control.

Iraqi government forces paused in their push to recapture western Mosul on Saturday because of the high rate of civilian casualties, a security forces spokesman said, a move apparently motivated by the incident.

The United Nations also expressed its profound concern, saying it was &quot;stunned by this terrible loss of life&quot;.

Initial reports from residents and Iraqi officials in the past week said dozens of people had been killed or wounded in Mosul&#39;s al-Jadidah district after air strikes by Iraqi or US-led coalition forces.

US&nbsp;Central Command, which oversees US&nbsp;military Middle East operations, said on Saturday that a review had determined that US-led coalition operation, requested by the Iraqi government, had struck Islamic State fighters and equipment &quot;at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties&quot;.

It was investigating to determine the facts and the validity of reports of civilian casualties, it said. It did not specify which coalition nation carried out the strike.

Reports on the numbers of civilian dead and wounded have varied but Civil Defence chief Brigadier Mohammed Al-Jawari told reporters on Thursday that rescue teams had recovered 40 bodies from collapsed buildings. Many other lay buried in the rubble.

The exact cause of the collapses was not clear but a local lawmaker and two residents said on Thursday the air strikes may have detonated an IS truck filled with explosives, destroying buildings in the heavily-populated area.

The speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Salim al-Jabouri, said in a statement: &quot;What&#39;s happening in the west part of Mosul is extremely serious and could not be tolerated under any circumstances.&quot;

Up to 600,000 civilians are still believed to remain in IS-held areas of Mosul, complicating the government offensive tactically but also politically as the Shi&#39;ite Muslim-led government seeks to avoid alienating people in the mainly Sunni city.

&nbsp;

NEW TACTICS

Residents escaping besieged western Mosul have told of Iraqi and US-led coalition air strikes demolishing buildings and killing civilians in several cases.

The insurgents have also used civilians as human shields and opened fire on them as they try to escape Islamic State-held neighbourhoods, fleeing residents said.

&quot;The recent high death toll among civilians inside the Old City forced us to halt operations to review our plans,&quot; a Federal Police spokesman said on Saturday. &quot;It&#39;s a time for weighing new offensive plans and tactics. No combat operations are to go on.&quot;

The US-backed offensive to drive Islamic State out of Mosul, now in its sixth month, has recaptured the entire eastern side of Mosul and about half of the west.

But advances have stuttered in the last two weeks as fighting enters the narrow alleys of the Old City, home to the al-Nuri mosque where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate spanning large areas of Iraq and Syria in 2014.

&quot;We need to make sure that taking out Daesh (Islamic State) from the Old City will not cost unwanted high casualties among civilians. We need surgical accurate operations to target terrorists without causing collateral damage among residents,&quot; the Federal Police spokesman said.

A US&nbsp;deputy commanding general for the coalition told Reuters on Friday that the solution could lie in a change of tactics. The Iraqi military is assessing opening up another front and isolating the Old City, US&nbsp;Army Brigadier General John Richardson said.

Fleeing residents have described grim living conditions inside IS-held parts of Mosul, saying there was no running water or electricity and no food coming in.

But families are streaming out of the northern city, Iraq&#39;s second largest, in their thousands each day, headed for cold, crowded camps or to stay with relatives. Hunger and fighting are making life unbearable inside.

The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights said that since the campaign on western Mosul began on February&nbsp;19, unconfirmed reports said nearly 700 civilians had been killed by government and coalition air strikes or Islamic State actions.

The militants have used car bombs, snipers and mortar fire to counter the offensive. They have also stationed themselves in homes belonging to Mosul residents to fire at Iraqi troops, often drawing air or artillery strikes that have killed civilians.

The United Nations chief humanitarian official, Lise Grande, said civilians were at extreme risk as the fighting intensified and all sides must to do their utmost to avoid such casualties.

&quot;International humanitarian law is clear. Parties to the conflict &mdash; all parties &ndash; are obliged to do everything possible to protect civilians. This means that combatants cannot use people as human shields and cannot imperil lives through indiscriminate use of fire-power,&quot; she said in a statement.

(Reuters)

Air strikes may have detonated an IS truck filled with explosives, destroying buildings in the heavily-populated area

The US military said on Saturday a US-led coalition strike had hit an Islamic State-held area of the Iraqi city of Mosul where residents and officials say dozens of civilians have been killed as result of an air raid. The incident occurred on March 17 but what exactly happened is still unclear as IS militants fight to defend the areas of the city they still control. Iraqi government forces paused in their push to recapture western Mosul on Saturday because of the high rate of civilian casualties, a security forces spokesman said, a move apparently motivated by the incident. The United Nations also expressed its profound concern, saying it was "stunned by this terrible loss of life". Initial reports from residents and Iraqi officials in the past week said dozens of people had been killed or wounded in Mosul's al-Jadidah district after air strikes by Iraqi or US-led coalition forces. US Central Command, which oversees US military Middle East operations, said on Saturday that a review had determined that US-led coalition operation, requested by the Iraqi government, had struck Islamic State fighters and equipment "at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties". It was investigating to determine the facts and the validity of reports of civilian casualties, it said. It did not specify which coalition nation carried out the strike. Reports on the numbers of civilian dead and wounded have varied but Civil Defence chief Brigadier Mohammed Al-Jawari told reporters on Thursday that rescue teams had recovered 40 bodies from collapsed buildings. Many other lay buried in the rubble. The exact cause of the collapses was not clear but a local lawmaker and two residents said on Thursday the air strikes may have detonated an IS truck filled with explosives, destroying buildings in the heavily-populated area. The speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Salim al-Jabouri, said in a statement: "What's happening in the west part of Mosul is extremely serious and could not be tolerated under any circumstances." Up to 600,000 civilians are still believed to remain in IS-held areas of Mosul, complicating the government offensive tactically but also politically as the Shi'ite Muslim-led government seeks to avoid alienating people in the mainly Sunni city. NEW TACTICS Residents escaping besieged western Mosul have told of Iraqi and US-led coalition air strikes demolishing buildings and killing civilians in several cases. The insurgents have also used civilians as human shields and opened fire on them as they try to escape Islamic State-held neighbourhoods, fleeing residents said. "The recent high death toll among civilians inside the Old City forced us to halt operations to review our plans," a Federal Police spokesman said on Saturday. "It's a time for weighing new offensive plans and tactics. No combat operations are to go on." The US-backed offensive to drive Islamic State out of Mosul, now in its sixth month, has recaptured the entire eastern side of Mosul and about half of the west. But advances have stuttered in the last two weeks as fighting enters the narrow alleys of the Old City, home to the al-Nuri mosque where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate spanning large areas of Iraq and Syria in 2014. "We need to make sure that taking out Daesh (Islamic State) from the Old City will not cost unwanted high casualties among civilians. We need surgical accurate operations to target terrorists without causing collateral damage among residents," the Federal Police spokesman said. A US deputy commanding general for the coalition told Reuters on Friday that the solution could lie in a change of tactics. The Iraqi military is assessing opening up another front and isolating the Old City, US Army Brigadier General John Richardson said. Fleeing residents have described grim living conditions inside IS-held parts of Mosul, saying there was no running water or electricity and no food coming in. But families are streaming out of the northern city, Iraq's second largest, in their thousands each day, headed for cold, crowded camps or to stay with relatives. Hunger and fighting are making life unbearable inside. The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights said that since the campaign on western Mosul began on February 19, unconfirmed reports said nearly 700 civilians had been killed by government and coalition air strikes or Islamic State actions. The militants have used car bombs, snipers and mortar fire to counter the offensive. They have also stationed themselves in homes belonging to Mosul residents to fire at Iraqi troops, often drawing air or artillery strikes that have killed civilians. The United Nations chief humanitarian official, Lise Grande, said civilians were at extreme risk as the fighting intensified and all sides must to do their utmost to avoid such casualties. "International humanitarian law is clear. Parties to the conflict — all parties – are obliged to do everything possible to protect civilians. This means that combatants cannot use people as human shields and cannot imperil lives through indiscriminate use of fire-power," she said in a statement. (Reuters)

US confirms coalition strike in Mosul district where dozens of civilians reported killed

Fifty-six Islamic State militants were killed by Turkey-backed forces around the Syrian town of al-Bab and by US-led coalition air strikes in the latest operations on Wednesday, the Turkish military said on Thursday.

Turkish artillery fire also hit 104 Islamic State targets, including buildings and bombed vehicles, the army said in a statement, reiterating it had largely established control in the residential areas of al-Bab.

The Islamic State stronghold, 30 kilometres&nbsp;(20 miles) from the Turkish border, has been a prime target since Turkey launched an incursion with Syrian rebels last August to push the jihadists from its frontier and prevent gains by a Kurdish militia.

Turkey&#39;s army said 11 of the jihadists were killed in air strikes by coalition forces, while the rest were killed in artillery fire and clashes during operations in al-Bab.

(Reuters)

Turkish artillery fire also hit 104 IS targets, including buildings and bombed vehicles

Fifty-six Islamic State militants were killed by Turkey-backed forces around the Syrian town of al-Bab and by US-led coalition air strikes in the latest operations on Wednesday, the Turkish military said on Thursday. Turkish artillery fire also hit 104 Islamic State targets, including buildings and bombed vehicles, the army said in a statement, reiterating it had largely established control in the residential areas of al-Bab. The Islamic State stronghold, 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Turkish border, has been a prime target since Turkey launched an incursion with Syrian rebels last August to push the jihadists from its frontier and prevent gains by a Kurdish militia. Turkey's army said 11 of the jihadists were killed in air strikes by coalition forces, while the rest were killed in artillery fire and clashes during operations in al-Bab. (Reuters)

56 Islamic State militants killed in Syria, says Turkish military