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Democracy Now!

Civilian Death Tolls Adding Up to 'Biggest Humanitarian Catastrophe'

According to the group Airwars, at least 1,782 civilians were killed last month in coalition strikes. The civilian death toll could be as high as nearly 3,500. The battle for the Iraqi city of Mosul is now in its seventh month. The United Nations is warning the city is facing a humanitarian catastrophe, perhaps the worst in the entire conflict. More than 400,000 people are trapped in parts of the city still under control of the Islamic State. Meanwhile in Syria, Human Rights Watch has concluded the U.S. did in fact bomb a mosque last month, killing at least 38 people. The Pentagon claimed the drone strike on March 16 targeted a meeting of al-Qaeda members, but Human Rights Watch has concluded the victims were civilians who had gathered to pray. Human Rights Watch said it found no evidence that al-Qaeda or any other armed group was meeting in the mosque. For more, we speak with Anand Gopal, a journalist and a fellow at The Nation Institute. He recently returned from the Middle East and has reported extensively from the region.

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