Geolocation
Airwars assessment
At least 60 civilians were killed and as many as 100 injured in a series of airstrikes in al Qaim, according to reports. However, the alleged Coalition later denied responsibility.
Iraqi Spring Media Center said that 60 civilians were killed and 100 injured in an Iraqi government bombing that targeted al Qaim. A report posted on Rawh2015 and at least one other Facebook page indicated that three strikes took place – including on in front of the Grand Mosque and another targeted civilians during the receipt of pensions.
Rafidian Information Center reported that 6 air raids took place. A report in Shafaaq said the head of Iraq’s Parliament blamed the strikes on incorrect coordinates. Other outlets, including Euphrates Post, blamed the Coalition.
However, in a statement posted to Twitter, the Coalition’s spokesperson said that CJTF-OIR is aware of reports of civilian casualties near Al Qaim. We did not conduct strikes in the area around the time of the incident. This was later reiterated in the Coalition’s February 2017 civilian casualty report.
Later reports from Iraqi Spring Media Center put the death toll at 120 civilians. News of Iraq posted extremely graphic photographs of dead children.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the city of Al Qa’im (القائم), for which the generic coordinates are: 34.3957715, 40.9943684. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (21) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (8) [ collapse]
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An image shows a dead child on the ground following an alleged airstrike on Al Qa'im, Anbar (via news ofiraq3)
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An image shows a dead child on the ground following an alleged airstrike on Al Qa'im, Anbar (via news ofiraq3)
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An image shows a dead child on the ground following an alleged airstrike on Al Qa'im, Anbar (via news ofiraq3)
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A picture of Mahmoud Ali al-Naim, killed in an alleged Coalition airstrike on Al Qa'im, Anbar on December 7, 2016(Via Euphrats Post)
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A picture shows a destroyed building following the alleged Coalition airstrike on al Qaim (Via nrttv)
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An image shows smoke rising from the scene of a reported alleged Coalition strike on Al Qa'im, Anbar (via Rudaw)
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Another image shows a destroyed site following an airstrike on Al Qa'im, Anbar (via news ofiraq3)
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 this geographic area that correspond to the report of civilian casualties.
Original strike reports
In a statement posted to Twitter, the Coalition’s spokesperson said that “CJTF-OIR is aware of reports of civilian casualties near Al Qaim. We did not conduct strikes in the area around the time of the incident.”