'No Evidence' RAF Involved In Strike Which 'Killed Over 100 Civilians'

The RAF says it has no evidence any of its jets were involved in an airstrike which allegedly killed more than 100 civilians in the city last week.

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed RAF jets are flying missions over Mosul, but not whether they were directly involved in the strike.

In a statement, it said it had seen no evidence the RAF had caused any civilian casualties:

"As operations to liberate western Mosul and Raqqa intensify, the RAF continues to provide precision close air support to ground forces engaged in difficult urban combat.

"We conduct detailed assessments after each strike and review information from organisations such as Airwars and we have not seen evidence that we have been responsible for civilian casualties so far."

"Through our rigorous targeting processes we will continue to seek to minimise the risk of civilian casualties, but that risk can never be removed entirely."

The US, meanwhile, says the coalition "takes all allegations of civilian casualties seriously", adding that an investigation "has been opened to determine the facts surrounding this strike and the validity of the allegation of civilian casualties".

The Pentagon claims 220 civilians have died from coalition airstrikes in both Iraq and Syria since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve in 2014.

Some monitoring groups, however, put the figure closer to 3,000.

In response to these latest claims, the Iraqi military has denied they were caused by airstrikes at all - saying the buildings were actually booby-trapped by IS.

It comes as the US-led coalition against the group says Iraqi security forces are facing stiff opposition as they battle their way into western Mosul.

They launched their assault on western Mosul five weeks ago, with the fight to rout IS from its densely-packed streets proving slow and bloody.

The coalition, however, says government units are making progress, advancing along the Tigris River into the city's old quarter as well as closing in from the west.

To the north, tanks from the Iraqi Army's 9th Division are said to have cut off one of the terrorists' last remaining exit routes.

But even under a barrage of artillery and airstrikes, IS are putting up fierce resistance. 

More than 400,000 civilians are thought to remain trapped in the west of the city, which IS fighters seized two and a half years ago.

Cover image a file photo of Mosul, courtesy of Mstyslav Chernov.