US raid ‘mistakenly’ kills 33 ex-Iraqi forces in Mosul

By Mohamed Walid and Ibrahim Salih

NINEVEH, Iraq (AA) – At least 33 former members of Iraqi security forces were killed in a U.S.-led coalition raid in western Mosul on Monday, according to a local police officer.

Federal police officer Abdullah al-Mayahi said Daesh militants had held dozens of former members of the security forces to question them about an alleged collaboration with the Iraqi army.

He said a coalition warplane mistakenly fired two missiles into a train station, where the captives were held.

“The strike killed 33 former security forces members and injured eight others,” he told Anadolu Agency.

According to al-Mayahi, a number of Daesh militants were killed and injured in the airstrikes.

“Daesh has tried to cover up his crime by claiming that the bombed site was hosting refugee families,” the police officer said.

In mid-February, Iraqi forces -- backed by a U.S.-led air coalition -- began fresh operations aimed at purging Daesh terrorists from western Mosul.

The offensive came as part of a wider campaign launched last October to retake the entire city, which Daesh overran -- along with much of northern and western Iraq -- in mid-2014.