Airwars assessment
In the Amnesty and Airwars’s joint April 2019 report “War in Raqqa: Rhetoric versus Reality”, three 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 “Three members of the Al-Aalu family were killed when the building they were sheltering in was hit by an airstrike.”
Relative of the family, Abu Hamed, told Amnesty “They were first injured in a strike on a nearby building where they were staying, so they fled to another place and were killed there.”
In July 2019, the Coalition announced that it had classed this allegation of civilian harm as 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 (3)
- Ibrahim Mohammed Al-Aalu 30 years old male killed
- Abbud Mohammed Al-Aalu 35 years old male killed
- Wife of Abbud female killed
Summary
Sources (1) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
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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Jun. 28, 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
Near Raqqah, 11 strikes engaged 10 ISIS tactical units, three fighting positions, three
vehicles, a tactical vehicle and a mortar system.