Little has changed at the scene of the al-Jadida airstrike that killed more than 100 civilians more than two months ago and ratcheted up pressure on the U.S.-led coalition to address allegations of mounting civilian casualties in the fight against the Islamic State group.
While bulldozers have cleared the main street of debris so vehicles and pedestrians can pass, the houses destroyed by the fierce clashes to “liberate” the neighborhood remain reduced to mounds of rubble.
Initially, residents say they were inundated with journalists and Iraqi government officials, but within a week the neighborhood was “abandoned,” said Ali Idriss, 30, whose home is within eyesight of the house hit by the U.S. bomb on March 17.
Idriss said the Pentagon investigation released Thursday that acknowledged 105 civilians were killed in the airstrike is relatively insignificant.
“It’s important to hear the Americans apologize,” he said, “but justice would be the government giving the people of this neighborhood money to rebuild their homes.” From where he stood at least five completely destroyed homes were visible.
The Pentagon report concluded that the 500 pound bomb dropped on a house to kill two ISIS snipers should not have destroyed the entire structure. The report said secondary explosions caused by explosives set by ISIS fighters inside the al-Jadida house killed the civilians sheltering there.
The report added that another 36 civilians may have been at the building at the time, but “there is insufficient evidence to determine their status or whereabouts.”
Poor weather conditions during the days leading up to March 17 made coalition aerial surveillance of the neighborhood impossible for the two days before the bomb was dropped, Col. Joseph Scrocca, a coalition spokesman said, adding that coalition surveillance was also unavailable on the day of the strike due to fog.
Two Iraqi officers who oversaw the operation that day said special forces soldiers on the ground instead visually confirmed the presence of ISIS fighters in the house and reported that no civilians were observed.