Amnesty International stated that in the operations carried out in Mosul, both the US-led military coalition and the Iraqi Army violated international law by not taking adequately precautions to protect the civilians.

“The shocking spike in civilian casualties from both US-led coalition airstrikes and ground fighting between the Iraqi military and IS [Daesh] fighters in recent months has also raised serious questions about the lawfulness of these attacks,” said Amnesty International in the report.

Amnesty International pointed out the high civilian toll suggests that coalition forces leading the offensive in Mosul have failed to take adequate precautions to prevent civilian deaths and said, “In flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”

Amnesty's report noted the deaths of hundreds of civilians in operations carried out for the capture of Mosul, resulting in the destruction of houses or other sites that could be considered safe during attacks. It is said in the report that 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.

Eyewitnesses also reported many times that Daesh militants were trapped in houses destroyed during operations or remained in untarnished buildings.

“Evidence gathered on the ground in East Mosul points to an alarming pattern of US-led coalition airstrikes which have destroyed whole houses with entire families inside. The high civilian toll suggests that coalition forces leading the offensive in Mosul have failed to take adequate precautions to prevent civilian deaths, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,” said Donatella Rovera, Senior Crisis Response Adviser at Amnesty International, who carried out field investigations in Mosul.

According to the knowledge given by the Iraqi authorities, many civilian lives were lost in the air operations in the west of Mosul. Some officials and eyewitnesses noted that there were hundreds of civilian deaths, while Amnesty's report on Mosul reported that 150 people were killed during attacks on the Jadida neighborhood on March 17th.

Coalition forces confirmed that the attack on the west of Mosul was at the end of last week and reported that it was a "mistake", while many civilians were reported to have been killed in air strikes by US-led coalition forces.

Operation of the Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, was begun in October of the year 2016 with the support of coalition forces under the leadership of the US to withdraw Mosul from the Daesh.

After Mosul's East was taken in January, an operation was started for the western city in February, and at the beginning of this week, Iraqi troops moved to take the old city.

According to the UN, there are more than 400 civilians in the old city and they cannot leave the city because of the clashes. (Mustafa Kaynak - ILKHA)