Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1620a

Incident date

October 11, 2017

Location

Ar Raqqah, Raqqa, Syria

Geolocation

35.953579, 39.012285 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Within 100m (via Coalition) level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

The Amnesty and Airwars’s joint April 2019 report “War in Raqqa: Rhetoric versus Reality” reported on an incident previously unidentified by Airwars.

An uncle and nephew were killed by an alleged Coalition airstrike which hit them whilst they were on a motorbike. The airstrike occurred between 3 and 4pm, and there were no reported injured civilians.

According to the brother of the victim, Abdelmin’am, in a testimony he gave to Amnesty researchers, “My brother was going on an errand with my sister’s son; they were riding a small motorbike and were both killed in a coalition strike. I don’t know what was the target, and they could not know either.”

In July 2019 the Coalition announced that it had assessed this allegation of civilian harm to be non-credible. Their monthly civilian casualty report noted: “After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties.”

The incident occured between 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm local time.

The victims were named as:

Family members (2)

22 years old male son of sister of Mahmoud killed
55 years old male killed

Geolocation notes

Location reported by Amnesty during field research “Jerdawi shop (sajjad shop) on Tal Abyad Street cross with Amassi Street.”

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • (2 men)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
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
    No Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area
  • Stated location
    in Raqqa, Syria
    Nearest population center
  • Location accuracy
    100 m
  • MGRS coordinate
    37SEV011788
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Jul 26, 2019
  • Oct. 11, 2017, in Raqqa, Syria, via Amnesty International report. After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties.

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

Near Ar Raqqah, 24 strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units, damaged nine fighting positions, destroyed 11 fighting positions, 12 vehicles, two communication nodes and one ISIS supply route.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • (2 men)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition