Geolocation
Airwars assessment
According to local sources, five civilians including a woman and a child died when the boat they were in near the town of Howeija al-Suwaki was struck.
A report by Glasswire cited Raqqa24 and RaqqaSL which blamed the Coalition. However, it also reported that “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.”
According to Glasswire, “local activists said on April 6th that an overnight US-led coalition airstrike on a boat near Raqqa, Syria causing civilian casualties. Raqqa SL said on Twitter that coalition strikes targeted a boat crossing the Euphrates river in the early hours of the morning.”
Glasswire also said that around March 17th, the coalition had dropped leaflets on Raqqa warning people not to use boats. However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported thatr “a missile believed to be of a land-to-land type landed on the Hawija al-Swaqi area, causing material damage, and injured a man and a woman.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (10) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
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Leaflets warning people not to use river boats, reportedly dropped by the Coalition in April 2017
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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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. (1290)
Original strike reports
For April 5th-6th, the Coalition reported: “Near Ar Raqqah, two strikes destroyed an ISIS vehicle.”
For April 6th-7th, the Coalition reported: "Near Ar Raqqah, four strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; and destroyed four fighting positions and a tactical vehicle."