Civilian casualties

The city of Mosul, Iraq has been held by ISIS since June 2014, and Iraqi and Kurdish forces have been fighting to drive ISIS out of what was Iraq's second largest city. Plans were first laid out in Oct. 2016 to assault the ISIS forces embedded in the city. ISIS had built fortified positions in residential areas, and the city is littered with Improvised Explosive Devices (Explosive anti-personnel and anti-vehicle booby traps). Many buildings have been so loaded with explosives that they have become bombs themselves. ISIS also enhanced their occupation by executing anyone who was not supporting them. Mass executions have terrified the population and kept resistance activities to an absolute minimum.

Mosul is divided by the Tigris River and ISIS has been driven from the eastern half of the city. Those ISIS forces that have not fled the eastern part of the city are apparently preparing to make a stand in the west. Artillery, mortars and air strikes called in by Iraqi commanders are being used to soften ISIS positions they have targeted.

On March 17, 2017, U.S. aircraft bombed a targeted ISIS truck bomber. The resulting explosion demolished a nearby building and as of this writing, killed at least 100 civilians and possibly as many as 200. It is not now known whether the building held booby traps which were detonated by the bombing or if the bomb-laden truck blew up in an unanticipatedly large secondary explosion.

Whatever the reason for the size of the unexpected explosion, one theory is that the civilians were being held there against their will. Placing civilians in danger as human shields has been an ongoing tactic of ISIS. The U.S. pilots were unaware of the presence of the civilians, but ISIS accomplished a major psychological victory. Bassma Bassim, the head of the Mosul District Council, said that many civilians are questioning whether they are being intentionally targeted. Meanwhile, western Mosul suffers from electricity shortages, food and water shortages, and the constant danger from shelling, bombings, and snipers. It is estimated that 600,000 civilians are trapped in this insane hell.

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He lives in Chaffee, Missouri.