As Sunni MPs Plea for Precision US Strikes, Iraqi Gov’t Kills 31 in School Shelter
http://www.juancole.com/2014/09/precision-strikes-shelter.html
As Sunni MPs Plea for Precision US Strikes, Iraqi Govt Kills 31 in School Shelter
By contributors | Sep. 15, 2014
Human Rights Watch
(Erbil) The Iraqi government should promptly investigate an airstrike that hit a school housing displaced people near Tikrit on September 1, 2014. The attack killed at least 31 civilians, including 24 children, and wounded 41 others. According to three survivors, no fighters from the armed group Islamic State or other military objects were in or around the school at the time.
The attack occurred around 11:30 p.m. on September 1 on the Al-Alam Vocational High School for Industry in the Alwayi Al-Thawri neighborhood of Al-Alam, 18 kilometers northeast of the city of Tikrit. The area is under the control of Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS).
Iraqs allies in the fight against ISIS need to put pressure on Baghdad to stop this kind of violence, said Fred Abrahams, special adviser. ISIS is incredibly brutal, but thats no excuse for what the Iraqi government is doing.
On September 13, new Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered the Iraqi Air Force to halt shelling of civilian areas even in those towns controlled by ISIS. The unprecedented order could help minimize civilian casualties but accountability for past unlawful attacks is still needed, Human Rights Watch said.