Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Two women were reported by a single source, the Syrian Observatory, as having been killed in a “Coalition airstrike” in the countryside around Tal Abiyad.
In July 2017 the Coalition classed the event as non credible on grounds of available evidence of civilian harm: “Jun. 18, 2015, near Tal Abyad, Syria, via Airwars report: After a review of available information and strike video it was assessed that there is insufficient evidence to find that civilians were harmed in this strike.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Tall Abyad (تل أبيض), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.691373, 38.949966. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (2) [ 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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After a review of available information and strike video it was assessed that there is insufficient evidence to find that civilians were harmed in this strike.
Original strike reports
Multiple coalition strikes were confirmed in the vicinity. For June 17th-18th 2015, the coalition noted: “Near Tal Abyad, four airstrikes struck one large and two small ISIL tactical units, destroying two ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL vehicles and an ISIL excavator.”