The Pentagon is 'looking into' reports that an airstrike killed hundreds of civilians in Mosul

pulse

March 24, 2017 7:46 PM

Fighting has intensified in Mosul in recent weeks, and civilians casualties are believed to be mounting.

An Iraqi air force helicopter fires missiles against ISIS militants during a battle in Mosul, March 17, 2017.

The Pentagon and the US-led coalition fighting ISIS in Iraq acknowledged on Friday that they were investigating a suspected airstrike that may have killed hundreds of Iraqi civilians in an ISIS-held part of Mosul.

Iraqi forces and their partners kicked off operations against ISIS in western Mosul on February 19.

In recent days, as their advance entered western Mosul's Old City, progress has bogged down and fighting has intensified.

The close-quarters of homes and neighborhoods in that part of the city have enable ISIS fighters to mount a fierce resistance, and as result, Iraqi forces and allies on the ground have relied more and more on bombardment from the ground and air.

The US-led coalition has reportedly loosened its rules of engagement in recent weeks, allowing advisers on the ground near the front to have more direct control over airstrikes. Coalition aircraft are reportedly loitering in the air above the city, waiting to drop their bombs.

The Pentagon has admitted several hundred civilians have been killed during the campaign against ISIS in in Iraq and Syria, which started in mid-2014.

Other reports put the death toll much higher. Airwars has said that a little more than 2,700 civilians had been killed by coalition strikes over that period.

As many as 3,864 Iraqi civilians had been slain since the start of operations against western Mosul, an Iraqi army source told Turkey's Anadolu Agency.

"Thaer

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