An Australian air strike against Islamic State (IS) may have caused civilian casualties in Iraq, according to a document obtained by the ABC.

Key points: A US Central Command report lists possible civilian casualties in Iraq

A US Central Command report lists possible civilian casualties in Iraq One incident details an Australian raid on a suspected IS factory in December 2014

One incident details an Australian raid on a suspected IS factory in December 2014 Tony Abbott is considering a request to extend Australia's mission to Syria

The United States Central Command report lists alleged civilian casualties caused by coalition aircraft in Iraq and Syria between September 2014 and April of this year.

One incident details an Australian raid on a suspected IS weapons factory, that appears to have taken place on December 21 last year.

The report said 10 minutes after the last bomb was dropped, a woman and child were observed within the targeted area.

A man then arrived and took the child away on a motorbike, and the woman was seen walking to a median strip where she lay down.

The document is based on reports by coalition pilots and/or ground forces and lists dozens of other possible civilian casualty incidents.

The document has the time, location and a rough summary of the incidents but not the results of any investigations that may have taken place as a result of the reports.

As most of the areas under attack are under the control of IS, it is difficult for coalition to forces to verify the incidents.

In the case of the Australian incident, the report states that there was insufficient evidence to determine whether there were any civilian casualties.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said she was "aware" of the report and that "there has been no confirmation that civilian casualties occurred".

"Australia's defence forces operate under very strict rules of engagement, which are designed to not only protect our forces, but also to ensure that we abide by our Australian and international laws relating to the protection of life and property," she said.

Investigative journalist Chris Woods, who monitors the coalition war effort in Iraq and Syria closely, said the documents were a rare insight into the Australian fight against IS.

"It gives us a real insight into how Australian aircraft are operating in Iraq and the outcome of the investigations that were triggered by these claims," he said.

The Australian Defence Force said in a statement to AM routine battle damage assessment was conducted following the airstrike.

"The assessment was consistent with the reports detailed in the Iraq/Syria CIVCAS Allegation tracker released by US Central Command under FOI legislation," the statement read.

"As there were no reports or claims of any casualties from Australian airstrikes, no further action was undertaken."

Document lists another incident of possible civilian casualties

The Australian military is considered to be cautious when it comes to releasing information about its operations in Iraq.

It provides monthly briefings to journalists at Defence headquarters, providing information on total flying hours, the number of missions and the amount of ordnance dropped.

The briefings usually describe in general terms what areas were targeted, but they do not usually talk about possible civilian casualties.

"We do think it is going to make a couple of coalition members, including Australia, a bit uncomfortable," Woods said.

"But that's because of their own issues about secrecy which we have our own issues with."

The document was in a freedom of information request by Joseph Trevithick, who runs the blog War is Boring.

It lists another incident of possible civilian casualties where Australian fighter jets were present.

It states that in October 2014, an Australian F/A-18 reported a truck entering a target zone near an IS checkpoint west of Ramadi.

The details are unclear but the truck entered the area sometime between the release of a weapon and its detonation.

It does not state whether the Australian jet fired the missile, but the incident was filmed by the F-18's weapons system.

Australia thorough when investigating casualty reports

According to Professor Roger Shanahan, a former Army Officer who is now a security analyst at the Lowy Institute, civilian casualties are a sad fact of any military operation.

"Any kind of military operation that involves live ordinance being thrown around a battlefield will likely result in civilian casualties at some point in time," he said.

"I don't think there has been a war devoid of civilian casualties."

But Professor Shanahan also cautioned against jumping to any conclusions about the reports such as those contained in the document.

He said it took meticulous investigation to find out what had actually happened on a battlefield and he said initial reports could be wrong.

And he said one thing was certain — that countries such as Australia were thorough when it came to investigating civilian casualties.

"It's one of the characteristics, certainly of the coalition and of Australia, to take allegations of civilian casualties very seriously," he said.

The document has come to light as Prime Minister Tony Abbott is considering expanding Australia's role in the fight against IS into Syria.

Australia joined the international effort to defeat IS last September.

Its contribution consists of six F/A-18 fighter jets, a surveillance aircraft, a refueller, 200 special forces soldiers, and 400 military staff operating in support of the US-led mission.

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