Geolocation
Airwars assessment
An alleged Coalition strike at Khalidiya island, to the east of Ramadi, reportedly killed seven civilians including two cildren. Thirteen people were also reported injured, described as ‘mostly women and children.’
A Coalition report issued in December 2016 stated the following: “After a thorough review of the facts and circumstances of each alleged civilian casualty report, CJTF-OIR assessed that the following [12] reports received in October are non-credible. Non-credible means that at this time there is not sufficient evidence available to determine that, more likely than not, a Coalition strike resulted in alleged civilian casualties.
1. Sept. 20, 2015, near Ramadi, Iraq: Insufficient evidence available to determine credibility.”
A different perspective was offered in July 2017 however, with the Coalition noting that “Sep. 20, 2015, near Ramadi, Iraq, via Airwars report: After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographic area that correspond to the report of civilian casualties.”
Given these apparently contradictory positions and confirmed strikes in the vicinity that day, Airwars is seeking additional information from the Coalition.
Summary
Sources (4) [ collapse]
Attached to this civilian harm incident is the Pentagon's declassified assessment of this civilian harm allegation, obtained by Azmat Khan and the New York Times through Freedom of Information requests and lawsuits filed since March 2017, 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:
Original strike reports
For September 19th-20th 2015, the Coalition reported that “Near Ramadi, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL buildings.”