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Report on the Protection of Civilians in the context of the Ninewa Operations and the retaking of Mosul City, 17 October 2016 – 10 July 2017

This report covers the period of the Ninewa military operations conducted by Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and affiliated armed groups—with air support provided by Operation Inherent Resolve1 and the Iraqi Air Force—to retake the city of Mosul and surrounding areas from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The operations lasted from 17 […]

UNAMI and UNHRC report:

This report covers the period of the Ninewa military operations conducted by Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and affiliated armed groups—with air support provided by Operation Inherent Resolve1 and the Iraqi Air Force—to retake the city of Mosul and surrounding areas from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The operations lasted from 17 October 2016 to 10 July 2017 and were divided in three military phases.

The first phase of the operations to retake Mosul officially started on 17 October 2016, when Prime Minister and Commander of Iraqi Military Forces Haidar Al-Abadi, announced the launch of the military operation ‘Qademoun ya Ninewa’ to reclaim areas under ISIL control in Ninewa Governorate, including Mosul City. This first phase of the battle focused on districts and subdistricts of Ninewa Governorate, in particular rural areas in the approach to the city of Mosul. It was followed by the second phase—the battle for eastern Mosul, that started in mid-November 2016. On 24 January 2017, Prime Minister AlAbadi declared that ISF had retaken eastern Mosul. On 19 February 2017, ISF commenced the third and final phase of operations against ISIL in western Mosul. On 10 July 2017, Prime Minister Al-Abadi publicly announced from Mosul City that the third phase of the operations has been successfully completed with western Mosul totally reclaimed.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) monitored the human rights situation throughout the operations, with an emphasis on the impact of conduct of hostilities on civilians and civilian objects, and investigated over 650 incidents involving allegations of civilian casualties. This report depicts categories of violations and abuses of human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law by parties to the conflict during the three phases of the operations.