Two children are feared to be among those killed in separate bombing raids in Iraq involving the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
The Chief of Joint Operations, Vice Admiral David Johnston, has detailed two incidents of civilian casualties in West Mosul which occurred this year involving Australian aircraft or personnel.
On March 30 a coalition aircraft from an unspecified country bombed a residential building in the ISIS-held city, killing or injuring seven civilians, including one believed to be a child.
The approval to strike involved an ADF member stationed nearby.
In June, RAAF hornets bombed another building in the war-ravaged city.
A child is believed to have been killed in the strike.
The hornets were called in by an Iraqi army unit that was under fire from ISIS fighters.
"They [the Iraqi army unit] found themselves within 20 metres of a building in which Daesh fighters were," Vice Admiral Johnston explained.
"They were engaged by small arms fire and were pinned down, unable to move.
"We had a pair of hornets that were airborne at the time … they performed a strike, it was a single precision guided weapon, a low-collateral weapon."
ADF operated within the rules
Defence says both incidents have been thoroughly reviewed and some extra training has been introduced.
It says in both incidents ADF members operated within their strict rules of engagement.
"West Mosul is a heavily built up area and a very dangerous area for combat operations," Vice Admiral Johnston said.
"Daesh we know uses civilian homes and booby trapped buildings, and uses those homes as defensive fighting positions."
