Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1024a

Incident date

June 11–17, 2017

Location

Raqqa, Syria

Geolocation

35.94298, 39.02375 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”, five civilians were reportedly killed in an alleged Coalition airstrike in Raqqa. Although Amnesty researched this incident on the ground, Airwars have decided to grade it “weak” due to the depth of material provided.

The victims were not specifically named by Amnesty however there was an incident which occurred on the 14th in the same location whereby named members of the Al Haj family were killed. We do know however that these were separate strikes as the other incident contains names and a survivor testimony. See incident CS983 for more details.

The Amnesty/Airwars repor stated that “Five members of the Al-Haj family – the parents and their three children aged ten, eight and two – where killed by a coalition airstrike which destroyed the building they were sheltering in.”

In addition to this, “Hoda”, sister of a victim told Amnesty that “My brother and his family lived on the upper floor of a tall building nearby but moved to this lower building for protection from air strikes. During the war we all tried to avoid upper floors for that reason.”

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5
  • (3 children1 woman)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

Not yet assessed.

Summary

  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5
  • (3 children1 woman)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition