Geolocation
Airwars assessment
A “number” of civilians were killed and wounded in an airstrike in al Khamissiya, east of Raqqa City – though it was not clear who was responsible. Some sources attributed responsibility to the Coalition, some to Russia and some to Assad’s regime.
Raqqa24 reported that there was “mass destruction” in al Khamissiya from Coalition aircraft – they did not however report any civilian harm.
The only known source that mentioned any allegations of civilian harm was Sound and Picture who stated that “a number of civilians were killed and wounded in Russian raids on a camp in the village”.
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights placed blame on joint Russian forces and regime operations. They reported:
“Russian warplanes and aircraft of the regime carried out dozens of strikes with rockets and explosive barrels targeting the city of Muadan and the villages of Al-Khamisiyah, Jaber and Qubba al-Buhamd”.
Explosive barrels are weapons that are known to be used by Assad’s regime.
It was not clear how many civilians were killed or wounded in the attack.
In their August 2020 civilian casualty report, the US-led Coalition assessed reports that they were responsible for civilian harm in this strike as “non-credible”, stating that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area at that time.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (4) [ collapse]
Russian Military Assessment:
Original strike reports
Russia has not reported any specific strikes between April 1st - 31st 2017.
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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Aug. 1, 2017, in Al Khamesiya, Syria, via Airwars report. After a review of all available records it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties. 3140/CS1316a 37SEV511575
Original strike reports
In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 10 engagements against
ISIS targets.
• Near Abu Kamal, one strike destroyed three ISIS well-heads.
• Near Dayr Az Zawr, one strike destroyed an ISIS oil refinery.
• Near Raqqah, seven strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed four fighting
positions, two ISIS headquarters, an IED, an ammunition cache, and a fuel supply point.