Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1371

Incident date

August 13, 2017

Location

near Raqqah, Syria, Raqqa, Syria

Geolocation

35.95989, 39.00111 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Within 100m (via Coalition) level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

In an incident not previously tracked by Airwars, the Coalition later confirmed the deaths of three civilians and the injury of another.

Their October 2017 civilian casualty report noted: “During a Coalition strike that engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a logistics node, it was assessed that three civilians were unintentionally killed and one civilian was unintentionally injured.”

This incident might or might not be related to local reports of civilian harm that day in Raqqa (see S1197 above). We have reached out to the Coalition for clarification.

This is one of the three events in which the Coalition has confirmed to have caused civilian casualties on August 13th — see S1196 and S1197a above.

In July 2019, the Coalition provided Airwars with the coordinates for this event accurate to within a 100m box.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Geolocation notes

Prior to the Coalition releasing the MGRS for this incident, Airwars had geolocated it to the nearest city at 35.9505639, 39.0094148

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Confirmed
    A specific belligerent has accepted responsibility for civilian harm.
  • Known belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (1) [ collapse]

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Known belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Credible / Substantiated
    The investigation assessed that although all feasible precautions were taken and the decision to strike complied with the law of armed conflict, unintended civilian casualties regrettably occurred.
  • Given reason for civilian harm
    No reason given
    Airwars’ assessment of belligerent’s civilian casualty statement
  • Initial Airwars grading
    Confirmed
  • Civilian deaths conceded
    3
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    1
  • Stated location
    near Raqqah, Syria
    Nearest population center
  • Location accuracy
    100 m
  • MGRS coordinate
    37SEV001795
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Oct 27, 2017
  • During a Coalition strike that engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a logistics node, it was assessed that three civilians were unintentionally killed and one civilian was unintentionally injured.

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For August 12th-13th the Coalition reported *Near Raqqah, 15 strikes engaged 14 ISIS tactical units and destroyed three command and control nodes, two ISIS headquarters, an ISIS UAS launch site and a vehicle. It additionally reported that “On Aug. 12, near Raqqah, Syria, 21 strikes engaged 16 ISIS tactical units and destroyed a fighting position, an anti-aircraft artillery system, and a mortar system.” And that “On Aug. 12, near Raqqah, Syria, one strike destroyed an ISIS fighting position.”

UK Military
  • English
    /
    Original

‘Sunday 13 August – Typhoons eliminated three terrorist positions in Raqqa, including machine-gun and mortar teams…then conducting attacks on Sunday [Aug 13th] which eliminated three more terrorist positions in the city, including a strongpoint adjacent to the now-abandoned Daesh “Immigration Office”, and machine-gun and mortar teams.’

French Military
  • English
    /
    Original

In the past week, (11th-18th) France conducted 27 sorties, including 22 armed reconnaissance and ground support (CAS), 1 refueling outlet and 4 intelligence gathering sorties by Atlantic 2 or Rafale patrols. Two strikes were carried out in the Raqqah region of Syria. They helped support the Syrian democratic forces in their offensive to retake the city.

OPÉRATION CHAMMAL SITUATION En Syrie, A Raqqah, la progression des forces démocratiques syriennes se poursuit. Au sud de la ville, la manœuvre de tenaille, amorcée il y a 15 jours, s’est achevée en fin de semaine dernière. Elle a permis de réaliser la jonction des fronts est et ouest. Depuis, les forces démocratiques syriennes ont relancé une offensive vers le centre de la ville mais elles font face à une défense acharnée des combattants de Daech. En Irak, Les forces de sécurité irakiennes poursuivent leurs opérations dans l’objectif de libérer, à terme, le nord de l’Irak. Actuellement, elles focalisent leur effort sur l’encerclement de la ville de Tall Afar. Les combattants de l’organisation terroriste réalisent un travail de valorisation de leurs positions défensives pour se préparer aux combats à venir alors que les populations tentent de fuir la ville. ACTIVITÉS DE LA FORCE Les soldats de l’opération Chammal poursuive leur mission d’appui au profit des unités irakiennes engagées contre Daech. Cette semaine, sur le théâtre, les aéronefs ont réalisé 27 sorties aériennes dont 22 de reconnaissance armée et d’appui au sol (CAS), 1 sortie de ravitaillement ainsi que 4 sorties de recueil de renseignement par Atlantique 2 ou patrouille de Rafale. Deux frappes ont été conduites dans la région de Raqqah en Syrie. Elles ont permis d’appuyer les forces démocratiques syriennes dans leur offensive pour reprendre la ville. La Task Force (TF) Wagram a mené de son côté 13 missions de tir en appui de la 15e division à l’ouest de Mossoul vers Tal Afar. En particulier, les artilleurs ont fourni des feux de harcèlement et d’éclairement pour interdire aux combattants de Daech de mener des actions au sol ou de réaliser des tirs indirects contre les positions irakiennes. Le bilan global de l’activité aérienne depuis le 19 septembre 2014 s’élève 1330 frappes, 2102 objectifs détruits et 6946 sorties. ‘

French Military
  • English
    /
    Original

For Aug 9-15th, France report 2 strikes in Raqqah, Syria – and 13 artillery missions in Mosul.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Confirmed
    A specific belligerent has accepted responsibility for civilian harm.
  • Known belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (1) [ collapse]