IS conflict: Call for inquiry into Iraq mosque attack

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-37751613

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Human Rights Watch has called for an investigation into an attack on a mosque in northern Iraq on Friday that killed at least 13 women and children.

Witnesses believe the attack in Daquq was an air strike because of the sound of aircraft and scale of destruction.

The US-led coalition conducting air strikes against so-called Islamic State in Iraq has said it has "definitively determined" it was not responsible.

The Iraqi military has said it is looking into the incident.

However, a spokesman declined to say whether Iraqi air force planes were flying in the area, according to the Associated Press.

HRW said the woman's section of the al-Khani mosque in Daquq, a Kurdish-controlled town about 30km (19 miles) south of Kirkuk, had been filled with Shia Muslim worshippers when it was hit by an explosion.

A man whose sister was killed told the campaign group that he had heard a plane flying over his home, 300m (984ft) from the mosque, shortly before the blast.

Another resident said he had had heard a missile whizzing through the air.

HRW studied video footage and photos of the aftermath, which it said did not show any military structures or forces in the vicinity.

It also noted that there was a base for Kurdish Peshmerga fighters outside Daquq and that the town was within shelling range of the nearest IS-controlled territory, about 15km away.

A police officer told HRW that earlier on Friday IS had carried out a mortar attack on a Peshmerga frontline position about 6km from Daquq.

A non-governmental security analyst meanwhile reported that IS fighters had been present in the town at the time of the attack. However, residents said they had not seen any near the mosque.

"Even in the heat of battle, armed forces should take all feasible precautions to avoid harming civilians," said Lama Fakih, HRW's deputy Middle East director. "Iraqi forces should investigate whether this was a possible unlawful airstrike that killed civilians and report their findings. If this turns out to be their fault, they should take appropriate measures to compensate the victims."