Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Coalition aircraft were alleged to have struck civilians some 15 km from Ar Rutbah, at the Haj Saleh Mraid Kubaisi glassworks factory. According to a number of sources, some families had fled the town for fear of airstrikes, only for members to be killed in an alleged Coalition attack on a civilian vehicle.
It was claimed by one source that four women from two displaced families were killed at the Mraid plant, with 10 children injured. The deceased women were said to come from the Haj Hammoud and Hajj Abtan al-Shami families.
An alternative source said that a small child, the son of Adib Tariq al-Shami had died along with two daughters of Nuri Faisal Abtan al-Shami.
Two more people were listed as injured.
The US led Coalition declared no strikes in the vicinity at the time. In its monthly civilian casualty assessment for October 2019 – published on December 5th of that year – CJTFOIR assessed this event to be ‘non credible’, noting: “August 8, 2015, in Ar Rutbah, Iraq, via Airwars report. After a review of all available records it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties. 2789/CI091 37SFS199561”.
The Coalition also provided coordinates showing the area it had assessed, accurate to within 100 metres.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the city of Ar Rutbah (الرطبة), for which the generic coordinates are: 33.036997, 40.284076. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (10) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (8) [ collapse]
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Two of six or more victim of an alleged Coalition strike near Ar Rutbah, Iraq on August 8 2015 (via Fayad Fayad)
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Aftermath of the strike (via Fayad Fayad)
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Aftermath of the strike (via Fayad Fayad)
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Aftermath of the strike (via Fayad Fayad)
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One of the alleged victims of the strike (via Fayad Fayad) -
One of the alleged victims of the strike (via Fayad Fayad)
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This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
One of the alleged victims of the strike (via Fayad Fayad) -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
One of the alleged victims of the strike (via Fayad Fayad)
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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August 8, 2015, in Ar Rutbah, Iraq, via Airwars report. After a review of all available records it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties. 2789/CI091 37SFS199561
Original strike reports
No Coalition strikes were publicly reported in the vicinity of Ar Rutbah for August 7th-9th 2015.