Amnesty International said on Tuesday it had identified a pattern of attacks by Iraqi forces and the US-led military coalition backing them in the battle for Mosul that violated international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes. Amnesty also slammed Islamic State for a host of crimes that have been documented previously. It said leaflet drops warning of attacks had been virtually useless because Islamic State heavily restricted civilian movement. Amnesty said the toll just in west Mosul from attacks launched by pro-government forces was very likely higher than the 3,706 estimated by monitoring group Airwars. “The true death toll of the west Mosul battle may never be known,” it said.

Source: Egypt Independent July 11, 2017 09:11 UTC