(MENAFN- The Peninsula) BAGHDAD:Iraq's official human rights commission (affiliated with Iraq's parliament) plans to sue a U.S.-led military coalition which it blames for the death of over 2,000 civilians in the city of Mosul, a commission member said Sunday.
'Numerous buildings in western Mosul, residential and commercial, have been destroyed [by coalition airstrikes], while nearly 2,000 bodies remain buried under the rubble, commission member Wahda al-Jumaili said in a statement.
'We are therefore calling on Iraqi prosecution authorities to file an official lawsuit against coalition commanders for these violations of humanitarian law and a failure to discriminate between civilians and combatants, she added.
Al-Jumaili went on to urge Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to launch an immediate investigation 'to determine who exactly is responsible for this loss of innocent life.
Hussam Eddin al-Abbar, a member of the provincial council of Nineveh (of which Mosul serves as regional capital), told Anadolu Agency that western Mosul's Old City in particular had suffered 'widespread destruction as a result of fierce coalition airstrikes.
In July, the Iraqi army retook Mosul from IS -- with the coalition's support -- following a nine-month campaign that featured frequent bombardments of residential parts of the city.
Until now, it remains unclear exactly how many civilians were killed in the fighting.
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