Geolocation
Airwars assessment
As many as 26 civilians were reported killed in an alleged Coalition airstrike in the vicinity of Ar Rutbah, in Anbar province. A video released by Daesh-linked Al A’amaq showed an apparent ‘double-tap’ strike when the location was again bombed shortly afterwards.
The Yagen agency reported that “aggressive Coalition strikes killed ten civilians and wounded 25 others, including women and children.” Al Araby placed the death toll at 26 civilians killed, including 9 children.
Al Araby cited Colonel Mohammad Obeid, from the Anbar Operations Command: “Yes, we received information talking about the killing of civilians, air raids carried out by the international coalition, western Anbar”, noting that he also described the incident as “unfortunate.”
Imad al-Dulaimi, the exiled mayor of the town, was also reported as saying three missiles struck Ar Rutbah which between them led to the death and injury of 30 civilians: “It has become irrational, demolishing a home… and killing our people for just a handful of these armed men.”
Some names of the victims and the injured have been published via Dhafer Storey Facebook account along with the aftermath images.
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, 40.285862. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (9) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]
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A picture shows the destruction in Ar Rutbah, which killed at least 26 civilians in alleged Coalition strike on February 18 2016
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Original strike reports
For February 17th-18th the Coalition reported a number of airstrikes in Anbar, though none publicly at Ar Rutbah.