Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS953a

Incident date

June 9, 2017

Location

Raaqa, Raqqa, Syria

Geolocation

35.945621, 39.03397 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 airstrikes 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.

According to the report “Iman al-Joumaa, 18 and pregnant; relative of al-Nasser family, was killed when her home was hit by an air strike and partially destroyed.”

The victims sister in law, Najah, told Amnesty in a testimony that “The air strike destroyed the room where Iman was at that moment and killed her instantly. Her husband and the rest of the family were in another part of the house and survived.”

On March 10, 2022 in the CJTF-OIR Civilian Casualty Report, the Coalition reported this incident to be “non-credible”, stating that “After review of all available evidence it was determined that more likely than not civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition strike.”

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Iman al-Joumaa
18 years old female pregnant killed

Geolocation notes

Coordinates released by the Coalition place the event at 35.94562, 39.03396

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 2
  • (1 woman)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • 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
    Open incident
  • Stated location
    near Raqqah, Syria
    Nearest population center
  • Location accuracy
    1 m
  • MGRS coordinate
    37SEV0306377917
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Mar 10, 2022
  • Jun. 9, 2017, near Raqqah, Syria, via Amnesty International report. After review of all available evidence it was determined that more likely than not civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition strike. 2689/CS953a 37SEV0306377917

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 2
  • (1 woman)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • 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