Airwars assessment
Civilian casualties were reported following air raids and/or artillery strikes on the district of Qaim, in the west of Anbar province.
Yaqin first reported US occupation heavy artillery shelling on areas of the Anbar, coinciding with the continued displacement of families in the absence of food and medicine. A second Yaqin report alleged civilian casualties and attributed blame to an aerial bombardment of aircraft military-government on residential parts of Qaim.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (2) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident only mention the district of Al Qaim (قضاء 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.
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:
Civilian casualty statements
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After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area that correspond to the report of civilian casualties.
Original strike reports
For September 17th – 18th the Coalition reported “Near Al Qaim, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a VBIED factory and an ISIS-held building.”