{"slug":"mosul-al-jadida-airstrike-march-2017","title":"Mosul al-Jadida Airstrike: US Bomb Collapses Building on Sheltering Families, Killing At Least 105 Civilians (March 2017)","date":"2017-03-17","lastUpdated":"2026-10-04","description":"On 17 March 2017 a US aircraft dropped a GBU-38 bomb on a building in the al-Jadida neighbourhood of west Mosul, Iraq, to kill two Islamic State snipers. The building collapsed on the civilians sheltering inside. The US military's own investigation counted at least 105 civilians killed and 36 unaccounted for, and attributed the collapse to explosives ISIS had placed in the building. Amnesty International reported up to 150 dead and said the coalition had failed to take adequate precautions, after the Iraqi government had told residents to stay in their homes.","summary":"A single US bomb aimed at two ISIS snipers brought down a west Mosul building full of families, killing at least 105 civilians by the Pentagon's count. The US says hidden ISIS explosives caused the collapse and that it did not know civilians were inside. Amnesty found the coalition failed to take adequate precautions in a city where residents had been told not to flee.","category":"extrajudicial-killing","severity":"severe","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-air-attack-mosul-killed-least-105-commanders-admit-1484731054","title":"Mosul air attack killed at least 105, say US commanders","publisher":"Middle East Eye"},{"url":"https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/03/iraq-civilians-killed-by-airstrikes-in-their-homes-after-they-were-told-not-to-flee-mosul/","title":"Iraq: Civilians killed by airstrikes in their homes after they were told not to flee Mosul","publisher":"Amnesty International"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Iraq","Mosul","ISIS","airstrike","civilian casualties","Operation Inherent Resolve","Amnesty International"],"relatedEntries":["raqqa-coalition-bombardment-2017","drone-strike-civilian-casualties-expansion","al-jinah-mosque-airstrike-2017"],"timeline":[{"date":"2017-03-17","title":"US bomb hits al-Jadida building","summary":"A US aircraft drops a GBU-38 bomb on a building in west Mosul's al-Jadida neighbourhood to kill two ISIS snipers. The building collapses on the families sheltering inside (Middle East Eye)."},{"date":"2017-03-28","title":"Amnesty: civilians killed after being told not to flee","summary":"Amnesty International reports that up to 150 people were killed in the al-Jadida strike and that coalition forces failed to take adequate precautions in a city where the Iraqi government had told civilians to stay home."},{"date":"2017-05-26","title":"US investigation: at least 105 civilians killed","summary":"The US military's investigation, presented by Brig. Gen. Matt Isler, finds at least 105 civilians killed and 36 unaccounted for. It concludes that ISIS explosives in the building caused the collapse and that US and Iraqi forces did not know civilians were inside (Middle East Eye, 26 May 2017)."}],"location":{"name":"al-Jadida neighbourhood, west Mosul, Iraq","lat":36.35,"lng":43.1},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"potential","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"Geneva Conventions, Common Article 3","provision":"Protection of persons taking no active part in hostilities in a non-international armed conflict (US is a party)"},{"statute":"Customary international humanitarian law (ICRC study)","article":"Rules 14–17","provision":"Proportionality; precautions in attack, including doing everything feasible to verify targets and to avoid or minimise civilian harm"},{"statute":"Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court","article":"Article 8(2)(e)(i)","provision":"Intentionally directing attacks against civilians in a non-international armed conflict (US and Iraq are not States Parties)"}],"iccRelevance":true,"civilianCasualties":105,"victims":"At least 105 civilians killed by the US military's own count, 101 sheltering in the building's lower floors and four in a neighbouring structure, with 36 unaccounted for. Amnesty International reported up to 150 killed.","perpetrators":"US forces in Combined Joint Task Force–Operation Inherent Resolve, supporting Iraqi counter-terrorism forces; the aircrew and the strike approval chain have not been publicly identified. President Donald Trump as commander-in-chief. ISIS, which held civilians in the area and, according to the US investigation, had rigged the building with explosives, bears responsibility for its own crimes.","structuredVictims":[{"group":"Families sheltering in a building in al-Jadida, west Mosul","nationality":"Iraqi","status":"killed (US military count; up to 150 per Amnesty); 36 unaccounted for","count":105}],"structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Combined Joint Task Force–Operation Inherent Resolve","role":"US-led coalition command; a US aircraft dropped the bomb","institution":"Department of Defense"},{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"Commander-in-chief","institution":"White House"}],"keyPoints":["On 17 March 2017 a US aircraft dropped a GBU-38 precision-guided bomb on a large building in al-Jadida, west Mosul, to hit two ISIS snipers on its second floor (US military investigation, as reported by Middle East Eye).","The US investigation found at least 105 civilians killed, 101 sheltering in the building and four next door, with 36 more unaccounted for (Middle East Eye).","The investigation attributed the collapse to 'a large amount of explosive material which IS militants had previously placed inside'; post-blast analysis found residues 'not consistent with the explosive content of a GBU-38' (Middle East Eye).","Brig. Gen. Matt Isler, who led the investigation, said Iraqi counter-terrorism forces and the coalition 'did not know civilians were in the building' (Middle East Eye).","Amnesty International reported up to 150 people killed and found that residents had received 'repeated instructions from the Iraqi government to remain in their homes' (Amnesty, 28 March 2017).","Amnesty concluded that coalition forces had failed 'to take adequate precautions to prevent civilian deaths, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law', and that disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks 'can constitute war crimes'."],"searchAliases":["Mosul airstrike","al-Jadida","Jadidah","March 17 2017 Mosul"],"verificationStatus":"cross-referenced","legalBasis":"Common Article 3; customary IHL on proportionality and precautions in attack (applicable in non-international armed conflict); Rome Statute Art. 8(2)(e)(i) as reflecting custom","postureNote":"No court has ruled. The US acknowledged the strike and at least 105 civilian deaths in its own investigation, but found that ISIS-placed explosives caused the collapse and that civilians' presence was not known. Amnesty International disputes the adequacy of precautions. Whether the attackers knew or should have known that civilians were sheltering in the building, the element that decides whether this was a war crime, has not been independently established. Classification is therefore 'potential'.","relatedIncidents":["raqqa-coalition-bombardment-2017","drone-strike-civilian-casualties-expansion","al-jinah-mosque-airstrike-2017"]}}