The official stressed that the coalition must take into account the presence of the civilian population in the city when carrying out its military operations.
"It should act as carefully as possible. However, this is not the case. There are 12,000 Turkmens living in the Mehlabiye area, in Mosul. The local residents are, literally, between the devil and the deep sea. On one hand, they are attacked by Daesh terrorists, on the other, they are constantly at risk of being targeted by the coalition aircraft," Maruf stated.
"This is a very big problem. Thousands of people have already been killed during the operation in Mosul. Most of them are civilians," he added.
On Thursday, Rudaw media outlet reported that at least 200 people, many of whom were civilians, were killed in airstrikes in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
According to reports, the people were taking shelter inside homes when an airstrike hit the buildings. Daesh terrorists could also be among the dead as they are reportedly "entrenched inside civilian homes."
The advance of the Iraqi army was reportedly halted in the area due to the airstrikes. The Iraqi operation to recapture Mosul, the key Daesh stronghold in Iraq, began in October 2016 and resulted in the liberation of Mosul's eastern part this January. The fighting still continues in the city's west.
