At least 484 civilians have been killed in strikes against the US-led coalition in Iraq and Syria since the campaign began in 2014. The coalition's monthly figures, lower than estimates by US non-governmental organizations such as Air Wires, indicate an increase of 132 civilian deaths in a previous report released on April 30. The coalition denied the easing of standards on the protection of civilians and said that "the increase in number is due in part to the increase in the pace of operations in urban areas densely populated."

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Friday that it added an additional 132 civilians deaths to its April report, a sharp increase from 352 it previously reported in late April. However, that total, which only includes civilian deaths through April, was still far short of what non-governmental organisations and monitors have estimated.

Airwars, a London-based collective of journalists and researchers that tracks civilian deaths in Syria and Iraq, estimated more than 3,800 non-combatants have been killed since the US-led coalition's operations began in August 2014. CENTCOM's estimate includes 105 civilians killed in a US-led air raid in March against a building in the Iraqi city of Mosul, the single deadliest incident for civilians arising from a coalition strike since anti-ISIL operations began in Iraq and Syria nearly three years ago. 

On the other hand, the number of Islamic State fighters remaining in western Mosul’s Old City stands at 500, an officer from the Iraqi Federal Police forces said Friday as security operations proceed towards the strategic enclave. Radio Sawa quoted Lt. Cap. Abdulah Taha saying that IS fighters have been shifting locations swiftly across the Old City’s narrow streets and houses in order to give impression to assaulting troops that their numbers were much higher.

On Thursday, a Pentagon spokesperson said there were less than 1000 IS fighters in the Old City, Islamic State’s last bastion in Mosul. On Friday, the Federal Police also said in a statement it killed Islamic State’s Hisbah (vigilantism) official in western Mosul, nicknamed Abu Abdul-Rahman, but did not identify his nationality. It also said forces took over 40 percent of Zanjili district, one area leading to the Old City. The service also posted a video of a parking lot containing several armored vehicles used by the extremist group in its battles.

Iraq Federal Police forces evacuated Friday 14 Iraqi families from a western Mosul district where battles approach the birthplace of the Islamic State’s proclaimed “caliphate”. Almaalomah website quoted a security source saying police evacuated 14 families from Zanjili, a district adjacent to the Old City, the place where IS supreme leader declared the establishment of the group’s rule in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

The families had been trapped for months under IS siege, said the source. Last Wednesday,  the army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service evacuated 380 civilians from Zanjili. Islamic State militants have faced accusations by Iraqi and United Nations officials, as well as local and world aid groups, of using civilians as human shields during the battle running in Mosul since October.

According to news reports, IS had executed dozens of civilians in western Mosul for attempting to escape to security-held areas or acting as informants for the government troops. Dozens of other civilians were shot dead by snipers on their escape routes.

Iraqi government troops regained control over eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting. Operations for the western side of the city launched in mid February, and Iraqi generals say a few hundreds of IS fighters remain in the Old City as a last refuge.

Source: Ahram online