Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1475

Incident date

September 12, 2017

Location

Ar Raqqah, Raqqa, Syria

Geolocation

35.9505639, 39.0094148 Note: The accuracy of this location is to City level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Two civilians, father and son died following alleged US-led Coalition airstrikes on Raqqa city – or as a result of ISIS actions in the city.

Discrepancies in the sources show Revolutionary Command Council in the city of Palmyra and Death page suspected the the men were executed by members of the so-called Islamic State organization. The two sources said they were killed “on the ground close to one of the organizations barriers around the city”. All other sources attributed the deaths to the US-led Coalition.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (2)

Asaad Gomaa Al Ramadan
Adult male killed
Mohamed Gomaa Ramadan
Age unknown male killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the city of Raqqa (الرقة), for which the coordinates are: 35.9505639, 39.0094148. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    US-led Coalition, ISIS

Sources (8) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • Father and son Asaad Gomaa Al Ramadan and Mohamed Gomaa Ramadan - who according to reports were either murdered by ISIS or died in a Coalition strike
CJTF–OIR Declassified Assessment and Press Release

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.

Declassified Assessment Press Release

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Non credible / Unsubstantiated
    Insufficient information to assess that, more likely than not, a Coalition strike resulted in civilian casualties.
  • Reason for non-credible assessment
    Insufficient information on the time and location
  • Civilian deaths conceded
    None
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    None
  • Stated location
    near Raqqah, Syria
    Nearest population center

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Jun 28, 2018
  • The report contains insufficient information of the time, location and details to assess its credibility

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For September 11th – 12th the Coalition reported: “Near Raqqah, 31 strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units and destroyed 24 fighting positions, 17 vehicles, three logistics nodes, an ISIS headquarters, an IED, and a command and control node.” It additionally reported that “On Sept. 11, near Raqqah, 16 strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed 17 fighting positions and a logistics node.” And that “On Sept. 11, near Raqqah, Syria, one strike destroyed an ISIS fighting position.”

For September 12th -13th the Coalition reported: "Near Raqqah, 56 strikes engaged 17 ISIS tactical units; destroyed 56 fighting positions, three logistics nodes, and two vehicles; and suppressed a fighting position" The Coalition later reported, "On Sept. 12, near Hawijah, Iraq, two strikes destroyed four ISIS tunnels, an anti-air artillery system, a mortar system, a weapons cache, an IED facility, a command and control node and a staging area. On Sept. 12, near Raqqah, Syria, five strikes destroyed 19 ISIS vehicles; and suppressed a fighting position"

ISIS Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    ISIS
  • ISIS position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    US-led Coalition, ISIS

Sources (8) [ collapse]