Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Seven civilians from one family – including young children – were killed and 8 injured when a house was allegedly struck by a coalition aircraft. However other sources attributed the attack to an artillery assault by the Iraq Army.
The dead were later named by the Iraqi Spring Centre.
Seven additional people were named as severely injured in the event.
In a later report, Baghdad TV claimed that as well as ‘a family of six’ killed in the strike, an additional 14 civilians had died after a total of seven homes were struck.
Local elder Sheikh Mohammed Jumaili demanded that “the federal government open an extensive investigation into the bombing of the coalition flights of civilian targets and homes within the area, despite the absence in the region of any armed groups.”
However, an internal CENTCOM assessment concluded that “The nearest coalition strike IVO [in vicinity of] Al-Kharmah was a single Hellfire missile targeting a Da’ish DsHK weapon 3.5km SW of Al-Karmah, IRQ on 23 FEB 15.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (7)
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Garma, near Fallujah (الكرمة), for which the generic coordinates are: 33.405, 43.913056. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (14) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (10) [ collapse]
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This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Islamic State propaganda issued in the wake of the alleged coalition airstrike -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Islamic State propaganda issued in the wake of the alleged coalition airstrike -
Islamic State propaganda issued in the wake of the alleged coalition airstrike
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Islamic State propaganda issued in the wake of the alleged coalition airstrike
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Islamic State propaganda issued in the wake of the alleged coalition airstrike
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Islamic State propaganda issued in the wake of the alleged coalition airstrike
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This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Islamic State propaganda issued in the wake of the alleged coalition airstrike -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Islamic State propaganda issued in the wake of the alleged coalition airstrike -
Islamic State propaganda issued in the wake of the alleged coalition airstrike
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Islamic State propaganda issued in the wake of the alleged coalition airstrike
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.
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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Open source media report that the hospital source in al-Qaim, a town on the Euphrates River, hospital said nine civilians were killed and 29 militants were wounded in the strike by the U.S.-led coalition. Some of the wounded were taken across the border to Syria for treatment. / OSINT RPT record via CHOPS. Target identified as an insurgent meeting house/staging house, and was not a hospital.