Mosul: Iraqi forces fighting to drive IS militants from Mosul have been ordered not to use heavy weapons after a recent spike in civilian deaths, as visiting UN chief Antonio Guterres stressed on Thursday that protecting civilians was an “absolute priority.”
“The Joint Operations Command has notified the combat troops of (militarise) federal police and the anti-terrorism service not to use heavy weapons such as rockets and smart artillery in bombarding the hideouts of Daesh (IS) with the aim of stemming bloodshed among civilians,” Brigadier Mohammed al Jabouri said.
As many as 150 civilians were reportedly killed in a March 17 airstrike in Mosul. Iraqi authorities and the United States, which backs the ongoing Mosul campaign, announced they would investigate the incident.
An initial US assessment shows that a US-led air coalition made astrike in the area.
“Criminal Daesh elements use civilians as human shields in order to deter the (Iraqi forces’) progress in Mosul,” Al Jabouri said.
Last week, an official at Mosul’s civil defence department said that more than 3,000 civilians had been killed in the city since February 19, when US-backed government forces began an offensive to dislodge IS from the western side of the city.
The eastern section of Mosul was retaken from the Al Qaeda splinter group about a month earlier.
The rise in civil deaths as a result of the fight has raised international concerns. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived on Thursday in Baghdad for a visit focusing on the “dire humanitarian situation on the ground,” a UN agency said.
“Protection of civilians must be the absolute priority,” UN Assistance Mission for Iraq added on its Facebook page. — dpa
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