Geolocation
Airwars assessment
According to the Smart News Agency, two civilian fishermen were killed in an alleged Coalition airstrike on a ferry between the two banks of the Euphrates River in the western village of Al-Sahlabiya. Local sources told Smart that the victims were killed as they were transporting cars between the two banks.
Step News Agency also put the death toll at two, blaming the Coalition.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, “SDF component Jabhat Thuwar al-Raqqa, which is in the area, said on Facebook that coalition aircraft launched four air raids in the early hours targeting ferries on the Euphrates river.”
A spokesperson for the US-led coalition told Grasswire that it “does not appear to have conducted any strikes on watercraft near Raqqah between 2-6 April,” and that this incident has been referred to its civilian casualty team for assessment.
Glasswire reported that around March 17th, the coalition dropped leaflets on Raqqa warning people not to use boats.
Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently named the victims.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (2)
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Salhabiya (سلحبية), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.95149, 38.78487. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (10) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
-
According to Grasswire, the coalition dropped these leaflets on Raqqa warning people not to use boats around March 17.
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
-
After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area that correspond to the report of civilian casualties. (1283)
Original strike reports
For April 3rd-4th, the Coalition reported: “Near Ar Raqqah, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.”
For April 4th-5th, the Coalition reported: "Near Ar Raqqah, four strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; and destroyed three fighting positions, three vehicles, a mortar system, a rocket system, and an excavator."