17 |
Civilian casualties
62.
CENTCOM agreed
the attack early on 5 April, subject to a reduction in the
ordnance
to be used
from 500lb and 1,000lb bombs to 500lb bombs only, in order to
minimise
63.
At 0530 local
time on 5 April, following reports that Gen Al‑Majid had returned
to the
location,
US forces dropped seven bombs on the target.52
The US
reported immediately
after the
attack that:
•
four bombs
had hit the target and detonated;
•
two bombs
had missed the target; and
•
one bomb
had hit the target but failed to detonate.
64.
Mr Abed
Hassan Hamoudi wrote to the “Head of Coalition Forces” in
Basra
on 12
April, informing him that 10 members of his family had been killed
when a
number of
rockets from Coalition aircraft had hit his house.53
He had
received no
expression
of condolence or explanation for the attack. Mr Hamoudi
indicated that
he would
seek compensation for the attack and said that he had authorised
his son,
Mr Sudad Hamoudi,
to pursue the case.
65.
The Joint Air
Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre (JARIC) produced a Phase
1
Battle
Damage Assessment (BDA) for the attack on Gen Al‑Majid on 14
April.54
It
stated
that no
collateral damage had been observed.
66.
By 15 April,
HQ 1st (UK) Armoured Division had associated the attack
on
Gen Al‑Majid
with the deaths reported by Mr Hamoudi.55
67.
HQ 7 Armoured
Brigade (then responsible for the Basra battlespace) issued
a
consolidated
BDA for the Basra urban area on 19 April.56
The BDA
covered 15 targets
which had
been engaged by precision guided munitions, including the 5 April
attack
on Gen
Al‑Majid. The BDA for that attack reported that the target
residence had been
completely
destroyed, but Gen Al‑Majid was believed to have escaped. The
attack had
damaged
other properties and caused civilian casualties; one neighbour had
claimed
that 10
members of his family including four children had been killed, and
another
neighbour
had claimed that an additional seven children had been
killed.
68.
The
consolidated BDA made no mention of civilian casualties in its
reports on any
of the
other attacks.
51
Minute BMRA
to NC HQ, 15 April 2003, ‘Civilian casualties – Coalition
Engagement in Basrah –
05 April
2003’.
52
Report 524
Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, 5 April 2003, [untitled]. Minute HQ
NCC to PJHQ,
16 April 2003,
‘Time Sensitive Target – Gen Ali Hasan Al Majid’.
53
Letter
Hamooudi to Head of Coalition Forces, 12 April 2003,
[untitled].
54
Report
JARIC, 14 April 2003, ‘MRNXXHACIZ/0248’.
55
Minute BMRA
to NC HQ, 15 April 2003, ‘Civilian casualties – Coalition
Engagement in Basrah –
05 April
2003’.
56
Report 7
Armoured Brigade, 19 April 2003, ‘Battle Damage Assessment Report
for the Al Basrah Urban
Area and
Immediate Hinterland’.
183