Geolocation
Airwars assessment
A reported evening airstrike by a drone or other Coalition aircraft at Hawijah was said to have killed five civilians and injured a further seven or more people.
Al Amaaq, the media wing of ISIS, reported the “Killing [of] five civilians and wounding of seven others in the bombing by a US aircraft in the evening at Hawija southwest of Kirkuk.”
A video at the time – since deleted by YouTube – showed destruction in the town.
Iraqi Revolution accused the Coalition of “targeting innocent people in southern Kirkuk, Hawija and the martyrdom and wounding dozens of civilians.”
The Coalition itself confirmed a strike in the immediate vicinity for September 17th-18th 2015, noting: “Near Al Huwayjah, one airstrike with inconclusive results.”
However, in its monthly civilian casualty report for October 2019 – published on December 5th of the same year – the US-led Coalition assessed this event as ‘non credible’, noting: “September 17, 2015, in Hawijah, 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. 2820/CI105 38SLE885097”.
The Coalition published a location for the assessment identifying to within 100 metres the area where it had focused its review.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Hawijah (الحويجة), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.3240179, 43.77335. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (4) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
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Victims of a reported Coalition drone strike at Hawija, Iraq Sept 17th 2015
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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September 17, 2015, in Hawijah, 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. 2820/CI105 38SLE885097
Original strike reports
The Coalition has confirmed a strike in the immediate vicinity for September 17th-18th 2015, noting: “Near Al Huwayjah, one airstrike with inconclusive results.”