Human Rights Watch calls for probe into Iraqi airstrike

An international rights group called Sunday for an investigation into an Iraqi airstrike on a school housing displaced families that killed 31 civilians, including 24 children, a day after the country's newly appointed  prime minister Haider al-Abadi ‎ordered the army to stop shelling militant-held populated areas to minimize civilian casualties.  New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement that the Sept. 1 airstrike took place in the town of al-Alam, just outside the northern city of Tikrit, which was captured by the Islamic State extremist group in June. The statement said 41 other people were wounded.  Three survivors, interviewed by HRW by phone, said the school sheltered about 70 people from the extended Jurefat family, who had been there for two months after fleeing Tikrit. They said that there were no militants or military equipment in or near the school at the time of the attack.  The report cited the Iraqi government as saying that the pilot had targeted a car driving near the school that was thought to be transporting fighters and explosives, causing an explosion that was ``far larger than normal.''

HRW special adviser Fred Abrahams said the Islamic State group ``is incredibly brutal, but that's no excuse for what the Iraqi government is doing.'' He called on Iraq's allies in the fight against the militants ``to put pressure on Baghdad to stop this kind of violence.''  On Saturday, Haider al-Abadi ordered the security forces to stop shelling populated areas held by militants in order to spare the lives of ``innocent victims'' as the armed forces struggle to retake cities and towns seized by the Islamic State group since early this year. (Source: AP)