Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1618a

Incident date

October 10, 2017

Location

Raqqa, Syria

Geolocation

35.958656, 39.010066 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Exact location (via Airwars) level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

In the Amnesty and Airwars’s joint April 2019 report “War in Raqqa: Rhetoric versus Reality”, one civilian was reportedly killed in alleged Coalition artillery strikes in Raqqa. Although Airwars assesses single sourced incidents as “weak”, researchers have assessed this incident “fair” due to the depth of material provided by Amnesty.

The report states that “An artillery shell struck a house where a family displaced from another neighbourhood was sheltering, killing a woman, Kafa’ Hassan al-‘Arab.”

Husband of the victim and survivor of the strike, Mohammed, told Amnesty in a testimony that “We tried to flee the city but could not. That day there was heavy air and artillery shelling. We were all huddled together in a room. A shell hit the house. It killed my wife and injured me and our three children.”

According to field notes, the victim and her family were IDPs; their home was near Tal-Abyad Street. They were all at home when the strike occurred at Hay al-Ward, near Hamza mosque; the husband and three children survived with injures.

In July 2019 the Coalition announced that it had classed this allegation of civilian harm as 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 7:30 pm and 7:45 pm local time.

The victims were named as:

Kafa’ Hassan al-‘Arab
34 years old female killed

Geolocation notes (2) [ collapse]

  • Before strike. (via Amnesty)

  • After strike. (via Amnesty)

Summary

  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    4
  • 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

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • Kafa Hassan al-Arab, killed in an alleged Coalition airstrike, 10th October 2017. (via Amnesty)
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
    37SEV009794
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Jul 26, 2019
  • Oct. 10, 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 Raqqah, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed a
logistical node.

Summary

  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    4
  • 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