Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Locals reported that eight civilians died after the Coalition or Iraq government aircraft struck the Jerri and Amina neighbourhoods of Hit. The Coalition has denied responsibility.
Among those killed was a family of six: a Facebook tribute page noted: “This is a picture of the martyr Riad Ahmed Rzeyk, who was forced out of his house in the Railway Quarter by Daash, and so moved to the Aminah neighbourhood. There his house was bombed by mistake which led to his martyrdom and that of his four children and his wife.”
While most blamed the US-led Coalition, Iraqi Spring instead blamed “the air force” – possibly a reference to the Iraqi military.
Multiple sources published eight victim names.
In its July 2017 monthly casualty report, the Coalition classed the event as non credible on grounds of having conducted no strikes in the near vicinity: “April 3, 2016, near Hit, Iraq, via Airwars report: After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographic area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (6)
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (6) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
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A picture of the victims who were killed after al alleged Coalition or Iraq government airstrike on the Jerri and Amina neighbourhoods of Hit, April 3rd (via Heet al-Hadath News).
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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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.
Original strike reports
For April 2nd-3rd 2016, the Coalition reported: “Near Hit, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL used-bridge, an ISIL VBIED factory, 22 ISIL boats, and an ISIL bed down location and denied ISIL access to terrain.”