(Previous Incident Code: S087)

In some of the heaviest coalition bombing reported for Syria to that time, US aircraft struck multiple Daesh targets in the strategic city of Raqaa – the beginning of a lengthy air campaign in which numerous civilians are now confirmed to have died.

Between 7 and 8 civilians were reported as being among the 23 dead in this first incident which occurred at around 4pm. CENTCOM conceded six months later that it had ‘likely’ killed three unnamed civilians in the incident.

“The significant airstrikes tonight were executed to deny Daesh the ability to move military capabilities throughout Syria and into Iraq,” US Lt Colonel Thomas Gilleran had told reporters at the time. “This was one of the largest deliberate engagements we have conducted to date in Syria, and it will have debilitating effects on Daesh’s ability to move from ar-Raqqah.”

However the Syrian Observatory reported that seven civilians died in one attack “by a drone” near Al Hameeda school, including a man and his son Fouad. Raqaa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) eventually placed the non-combatant death toll at eight, describing the slain boy as 10 years old. A 15 year old boy named as Mohammad Hammad Al A’akassi later died of his injuries.

Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently described the target of the Coalition strike as a vehicle, and said that the civilians killed had died as a result of shrapnel injuries.

Buzzfeed also spoke with two eyewitnesses to the event, with one noting: “They hit the target. But the people around the target were affected. I saw the kid laying on the sidewalk, and I felt I couldn’t walk.” According to the news site, ISIL militants carried away the remains of at least two of their comrades, leaving the dead civilians on the street.

On January 15th 2016, CENTCOM conceded that civilians had likely died in this attack on a High Value Target: “On July 4, 2015, near Ar Raqqah, Syria, during a strike against an ISIL High Value Individual, a car and a motorcycle entered the target area after the weapon was released. It is assessed three unidentified civilians were likely killed.“

In July 2019, the Coalition provided coordinates for the confirmed event to within 100 metres. Airwars geolocators had already previously identified the site of the attack.