US denies coalition struck Iraqi mosque
BAGHDAD -- The US-led military coalition says it has "definitively determined" that it did not conduct an alleged airstrike in the Iraqi town of Daquq that killed civilians last week during the battles for Mosul.
Col. John Dorrian, a US military spokesman, said on Monday that the coalition had notified the Iraqi government of its findings and that Baghdad was carrying out an investigation.
Human Rights Watch has also called for an investigation into the attack, which happened on Friday and which the New York-based group says targeted the women's section of a Shiite mosque in Daquq, killing more than a dozen people.
Daquq Mayor Amir Khodakram told The Associated Press on Saturday that the airstrike killed at least 17 civilians. He said it wasn't clear who carried out the strike. HRW says residents believed it was an airstrike because of the extent of destruction and the sound of planes overhead.
