Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1048a

Incident date

June 20, 2017

Location

Raqqa, Syria

Geolocation

35.954842, 38.980328 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

In the Amnesty and Airwars’s joint April 2019 report “War in Raqqa: Rhetoric versus Reality”, four civilians were reportedly killed in alleged Coalition airstrikes in Raqqa. Although Airwars assesses single sourced incidents as “weak”, researchers have assessed this incident “fair” due to the depth of material provided by Amnesty.

The report stated that “Dhiab al-Rusly and his two sons aged nine and 11 and his elderly father, were killed when their home was hit by an air strike.”

A neighbour and eye witness, Khalil, told Amnesty in a testimony that “They were good people, there was no reason to kill them. It must have been a mistake.”

No precise building was identified for the site of the strike.

In July 2019 the Coalition announced that it had assessed this allegation of civilian harm to be non-credible, noting: “After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties.”

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (4)

Dhiab al-Rusly
45 years old male killed
Muayad
9 years old male son of Dhiab killed
Iyad
11 years old male son of Dhiab killed
Riadh al-Talfah
66 years old male father of Dhiab's wife killed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4
  • (2 children2 men)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    US-led Coalition
CJTF–OIR Declassified Assessment and Press Release

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.

Declassified Assessment Press Release

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Non credible / Unsubstantiated
    Insufficient information to assess that, more likely than not, a Coalition strike resulted in civilian casualties.
  • Reason for non-credible assessment
    No Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area
  • Stated location
    Raqqa, Syria
    Nearest population center
  • Location accuracy
    100 m
  • MGRS coordinate
    37SDV982789
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Jul 26, 2019
  • Jun. 20, 2017, in Raqqa, Syria, via Amnesty International report. After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties.

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

Near Raqqah, 12 strikes engaged 10 ISIS tactical units; and destroyed six fighting positons,
three vehicles, three tactical vehicles, two mortar teams, a command and control node and a
mortar cache.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4
  • (2 children2 men)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    US-led Coalition