ISIS News Today 2017: High-Tech War Kit Can't Prevent Civilian Deaths in Iraq
The United States leads in the use of up-to-date weaponry on the battlefield. However, this technological supremacy didn't prevent collateral damage from taking place, as what happened in Mosul where up to 250 civilians were killed in an airstrike on March 17 that was purportedly launched by the U.S. Army.
Military officials have an explanation to this: Islamic State ISIS) fighters herded Iraqi residents into buildings to pressure the United States to minimize airstrikes as a result of civilian casualties. Video surveillance from a drone has actually captured footage of such an incident.
"What you see now is not the use of civilians as human shields. Now it's something much more sinister," Col. Joseph E. Scrocca, U.S. army spokesman said. "ISIS is smuggling civilians so we won't see them and trying to bait the coalition to attack to take advantage of the public outcry and the terror."
The United Nations estimated that more than 300 civilians have been killed since the west Mosul offensive began in mid-February, though it did not attribute which side was responsible for the deaths. Pope Francis, the United Nations and Amnesty International have called for increased measures to protect the citizens.
"For the first time we caught that on a video yesterday. Armed ISIS fighters forced civilians into a building, killing one who resisted, and then used this building against the CTS (Iraqi counter-terrorist forces)," Scrocca went on to say.
The information provided by the video could have compelled the commanders to call off the airstrike but it didn't. A U.S. defense official explained that the decision to strike must be taken in seconds in some instances. "It is very difficult to mitigate... an immediate threat coming from a building," he said.
