Geolocation
Airwars assessment
It was reported that a coalition airstrike in the vicinity of Al Hassakah had killed three unnamed civilians: “The car was bombed while it was on the bridge of a village near the town [of Al Hassakah] which led to the death of three civilians, displaced from the city of Tal Hamis,” according to Thawrah. The location was identified by other sources as the village of al-Jesse
According to Step Agency, the international coalition had targeted a number of militant vehicles in the vicinity that day: “From its side coalition flights struck ISIL gatherings in the countryside of the town of Tal Tamer after it took control of several villages and had seized several SUVs from Kurdish units. These cars were targeted by the coalition with strikes.” However Step Agency also described those killed in al-Jesse as non-combatants.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Al Jesse (الجيسي), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.786346, 41.520186. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (3) [ collapse]
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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The report contains insufficient information of the time, location and details to assess its credibility.
Original strike reports
The coalition has confirmed multiple airstrikes in the region. For February 22nd-23rd it notes: “Near Al Hasakah, 11 airstrikes struck ten ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL vehicles, an ISIL bunker and an ISIL fighting position.”