Airwars assessment
Four civilians were killed in a reported afternoon airstrike on Qortoba village, as a heavy Coalition/ SDF campaign against ISIL continued.
Al A’Amaq Media reported two deaths initially. According to Syria News Desk, “Coalition aircraft bombed three houses in the centre of Qahtaniyah, killing four civilians including a child, and injuring more than 14 others, including six dangerous situations, were taken by residents to the National hospital of Raqqa in addition to the destruction of two houses completely and damaging three others nearby houses and material damage to other large property.”
Raqqa is Being Slaughtered named the civilian fatalities.
In its February 2017 casualty report, the Coalition noted that “Nov. 25, 2016, near Ar Raqqah, Syria, via self-report: After a review of available information and strike video it was assessed that no civilians were harmed in this strike..” However Airwars continues to assess this as a likely event.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (12) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]
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Jamal al Hamad Al Majil (via Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently)
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Mohammad al Yassin (via RBSS)
Attached to this civilian harm incident is a provisional reconciliation of the Pentagon's declassified assessment of this civilian harm allegation, based on matching date and locational information.
The declassified documents were obtained by Azmat Khan and the New York Times through Freedom of Information requests and lawsuits filed since March 2017, and are included alongside the corresponding press release published by the Pentagon. Airwars is currently analysing the contents of each file, and will update our own assessments accordingly.
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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The report contained insufficient information of the time, location and details to assess its credibility.
Original strike reports
For November 23rd-24th 2016 the Coalition reported that “Near Ar Raqqah, four strikes engaged two ISIL headquarters buildings; and destroyed eight oil storage tanks, five oil tanker trucks, and an oil refinement system. Near Ayn Isa, one strike destroyed a vehicle storage facility.”