Incident Code
Incident Date
Location
Geolocation
Geolocation
Airwars Assessment
(Previous Incident Code: S806)
Up to 30 civilians died and many more were wounded in an alleged Coalition airstrike on a gathering of civilians near boats which they were going to use to ferry them across the Euphrates River as they attempted to escape Raqqa, multiple local sources reported.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights said that at least 11 non-combatants had died, while Asharqiya Voice put the number at 15 with six more missing. Other sources – all of them blaming the Coalition – put the figure at 14.
Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently said that 17 were killed, reporting that the vicitms died after the Coalition allegedly struck “a gathering of boats and civilians near the old bridge”.
One resident of Raqqa told the New York Times that “coalition warplanes and drones had attacked ferries transporting vegetables across the Euphrates River into Raqqa, causing the deliveries to halt.”
According to Syrian Mirror, “On Monday, 5 June 2017, the United States-led coalition against the State [IS] organized a new massacre of civilians following air strikes targeting a civilian compound near the old Raqqa bridge.
Field activists said that an International Coalition fighter targeted a gathering of civilians at a boat stand carrying civilians to the opposite bank of the Euphrates River, resulting in a massacre of 17 civilians, in addition to the injury of many more.” The Syrian Observatory, also pointing towards Coalition, put the death toll at 21. All other sources also blamed the Coalition.
A former Air Force intelligence officer told the New York Times that “as civilians were trying to flee fighting in the city of Raqqa in June 2017, scores of people boarded makeshift ferries to cross the Euphrates River. He said the task force claimed the ferries were carrying enemy fighters, and he watched on high-definition video as it hit multiple boats, killing at least 30 civilians, whose bodies drifted away in the green water.” The incident described in this interview seems to match CS920.
In their monthly civilian casualty reports, the US-led Coalition has indicated that the credibility of this civilian harm allegation is in the process of being assessed.
Jun. 5, 2017, near Raqqa, Syria via Airwars report. The Coalition actions identified in this allegation are duplicates of those in allegation 515 (Not Credible, published July, 2018). 3103/CS920 37SEV00976