Sunday, January 28, 2018

Still Pulling Bodies From Wreckage Of Mosul


On January 12, 2018, the Civil Defense Department announced that it had finished recovering bodies from the rubble of Mosul. It said that roughly 2,500 people had been found, and any other remains were Islamic State members. Voice of America reported on January 26 however, that municipal workers were still pulling people out of the Old City in west Mosul. The day the VOA journalist was in the city for example, a 10-year-old girl was discovered. Much of the Old City remains a disaster area, so Civil Defense was probably premature to say that its work was done.

The number of fatalities caused by the Mosul battle remains disputed. Prime Minister Haidar Abadi claimed only 1,260 civilians were killed in the fighting. The Mosul morgue registered 9,606 people. That led the Associated Press to estimate 9,000-11,000 civilians died, with 3,200 caused by Iraqi and Coalition air strikes and artillery. Musings On Iraq counted 21,245 deaths during the Mosul campaign with 18,707 of those civilians. In Mosul, there were 17,425 dead, 15,515 of which were civilians. Coalition and Iraqi forces were responsible for 4,997 of those killed in Ninewa and 4,847 of the dead in Mosul. 4,990 and 4,840 of those were civilians respectively.

SOURCES

Baghdad Post, “Civil Defense completes recovery of bodies under rubble in Mosul,” 1/12/18

George, Susannah, “Of 9,000 dead in Mosul, a third slain by US alliance, Iraqis,” Associated Press, 12/20/17

Hussein, Rikar, “Mosul Workers Still Pulling Bodies From Rubble, 6 Months After IS Expulsion,” Voice of America, 1/26/18

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