Iraqi army denies bombing civilians at IS-held town in Anbar province

BAGHDAD - Iraq's army denied on Thursday that its air fleet targeted civilians in the Islamic State (IS)-held town of al-Qaim near the border with Syria, confirming that the warplanes bombed buildings housing dozens of IS terrorist militants, said the Iraqi military.

"It is not correct that some media and political leaders depend on the propaganda of terrorist IS group," the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement denying media reports and statements by some officials which claimed that dozens of civilians were killed during air strikes against al-Qaim.

The statement clarified that Iraqi warplanes carried out an air strike at noon (0900 GMT) against a two-storey building in al-Qaim's suburb of Karabula, housing 25 suicide bombers from different nationalities led by Abu Maysara al-Quqazi.

At 12:55 p.m. (0955 GMT) the warplanes carried out another air strike against another two-storey building in al-Qaim housing between 30 to 40 terrorists from various nationalities, the statement said.

"The targets have been identified by intelligence information and were confirmed by our sources inside the town," added the statement.

The statement pointed out that the town of al-Qaim, 330 km northwest of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, is "under firm control of IS group and news or photos coming from there are scrutinized by the extremist militants in order to serve their criminal propaganda."

In the past 24 hours, local and foreign media reports quoted parliament speaker Salim al-Jubouri as saying that air strikes hit a civilian market area in the town of al-Qaim, resulting in the death and injury of dozens of people.

Jubouri said he "holds the government responsible for such mistakes," demanding an immediate probe into the attack.

In addition, the office of Suhaib al-Rawi, the governor of Anbar province, said that "Rawi condemned the massacre committed against unarmed civilians in the town of al-Qaim, and called for conducting an urgent investigation into the incident to bring the perpetrators of this massacre to justice."

Rawi also called on the Iraqi JOC and the US-led coalition to direct their attacks toward precise targets to avoid killing innocent civilians in IS-held areas where IS militants use civilians as human shields, according to the statement.

However, Eid al-Karbuli, a spokesman and member of Anbar's provincial council said it was not immediately clear if the air strikes were conducted by Iraqi or international coalition air fleet, demanding a government probe.

He said that the air strikes targeted a crowded market, a residential building and another building where seniors were collecting their pensions, killing and wounding over 100 people, including women and children.

On Wednesday, provincial security and medical sources said the air strikes targeted IS posts in the town, killing up to 70 people, including many IS militants and wounding over 50 others.

Also on Wednesday security reports put the death toll at 12 IS militants and nine civilians, with five militants wounded.

Provincial authorities could not give exact casualty figures nor confirm whether Iraqi or international aircraft executed the attacks, as the town has been under IS militant control for over two years.

The attacks come as Iraqi security forces backed by the anti-IS international coalition are carrying out a major offensive to drive out IS militants from their final major stronghold in and around Mosul.