Mosul Residents Got Exactly the Wrong Advice

An airstrike in Mosul 10 days ago reportedly killed dozens of civilians, and now an Amnesty International investigation says the US-led coalition wasn't careful enough in protecting locals as it fought ISIS in the Iraq city, the Guardian reports. The human rights group says up to 150 civilians were killed in the March 17 attack in the western Jadida neighborhood, though that figure has yet to be verified by US officials. Related coverage:

• Most of the casualties came when bombs destroyed houses. “They did not try to flee as the battle got underway because they received repeated instructions from the Iraqi authorities to remain in their homes," per the Amnesty report. It also faulted ISIS for using civilians as human shields.
• The UN's human rights chief has asked US and Iraq to review its tactics and avoid ISIS "traps" that can lead to mass civilian casualties, reports the BBC.

• Survivors of the attacks offer their own insights to the New York Times, expressing confusion as to why so many buildings were destroyed when ISIS fighters had been narrowed down to being at just a few. "Why, just because of one [Islamic State fighter], kill everyone?" one local asks.
• Two war correspondents describe the devastation for the Intercept, with one calling it a "humanitarian disaster." Journalist Anand Gopal says that there's been an "extraordinary number" of civilian casualties and that coalition forces are "hitting pretty much everything in sight" in densely packed neighborhoods.
• An op-ed at the National Review says the airstrike must be investigated, but adds, "the pursuit of victory must not be diverted by civilian casualties, which are sometimes unavoidable."
• About 275 more US soldiers are being sent Tuesday to northern Iraq to bolster the coalition's fight against ISIS, NBC News reports.
• Newsweek reports on the new black uniforms that some US service members have been spotted wearing, ostensibly to blend in with those worn by elite Iraqi units so they're not targeted as Americans.
• The editorial board of the Sacramento Bee serves up a warning to President Trump to steer clear of getting involved in an "intractable" war. "If Trump thought the blowback to taking away people's health insurance was bad, he'd better not send thousands more Americans into battle," they write.

(More Mosul stories.)