20 Sunni fighters killed by US airstrike near Mosul

By Jamal al-Badrani

NINEVEH, Iraq

At least 20 Sunni fighters were killed Wednesday by a U.S.-led coalition airstrike south of Mosul in northern Iraq.

Tribal commander Nazhan al-Sakhr al-Lahibi told Anadolu Agency the fighters were killed after they were mistakenly hit by coalition planes in the Kharaeb Jabr village, south of Mosul.

There was no comment from the U.S.-led coalition on the claim.

Al-Lahibi said Daesh militants had launched an overnight attack on the village.

“Tribal fighters, however, had managed to kill four militants,” he said.

In mid-2014, Daesh captured Mosul, along with vast swathes of territory in the country’s northern and western regions.

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army -- backed by a 60-nation coalition led by the U.S. -- retake much territory, especially in the western Anbar province. Nevertheless, Daesh remains in control of several parts of the country, includingMosul.

Iraqi troops and Kurdish peshmerga fighters have recently captured a number of areas on the outskirts of Mosul, which Iraqi officials have vowed to recapture by year’s end.