The following statement is issued in response to recent coverage regarding possible civilian casualties resulting from a Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) airstrike in ISIS-held territory in Iraq on January 21, 2015.
Shortly after the air strike, information came to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) through the Coalition headquarters that there might have been civilian casualties as a result of coalition action that included a Canadian airstrike. The source of this allegation had himself heard of these potential casualties through a second-hand account and, as far as we understand, there remains no eyewitness or credible information relating to any civilian casualties due to Canadian action on Jan. 21.
The target was an ISIS-occupied compound that was identified as a legitimate military target and struck on January 21, 2015. Analysis indicated that no civilians were present in the area for a number of days and so the target was cleared for engagement.
That area was under observation because it is located at the front lines where constant fighting between ISIS and Iraqi-Kurdish security forces has been occurring over a prolonged period. ISIS was using this compound as a fighting position to fire upon Iraqi-Kurdish security forces. On Jan. 21, a sniper was firing on Iraqi-Kurdish troops and our aircraft were guided to the target by coalition observers. The target was cleared as a valid military target with no civilians present before striking.
The Coalition headquarters conducted a review of all available imagery, video and intelligence. Concurrent to this, a CAF review, including a full history of the site since Jan. 2, also found there were no grounds to believe that civilians had been killed or even present. Furthermore, subsequent to the allegations, there has been no information from the Iraqi-Kurdish Security Forces suggesting there may have been civilian casualties.
Because the initial reviews eliminated Canadian action as a possible contributor to the unconfirmed civilian casualties, there were no grounds for an investigation and thus no reason to report anything other than our routine strike updates to Canadians.
The CAF remains confident there were no civilian casualties associated with the January 21 airstrike. Should there ever be a credible allegation of civilian casualties resulting from any CF-18 airstrikes during Operation IMPACT, the CAF will investigate thoroughly with coalition partners and provide as much information as possible to Canadians without compromising the safety and security of our operations and personnel.
To be clear, any agency with information that would indicate potential civilian casualties, or aid in clarifying existing allegations, is encouraged to provide it to the CAF so that it may pursue it with the coalition.
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Media Relations
Department of National Defence
Phone: (613) 996-2353
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