Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1265b

Incident date

July 24, 2017

Location

Raqqa, Syria

Geolocation

35.949221, 38.993879 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Exact location (via Airwars) level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

In the Amnesty and Airwars’s joint April 2019 report “War in Raqqa: Rhetoric versus Reality”, one civilian was reportedly killed in an alleged Coalition artillery strike in Raqqa. Although Amnesty researched this incident on the ground, Airwars has decided to grade it “weak” due to the depth of material provided.

According to the Amnesty report, “Hafeth al-Ghalladhi was killed in an artillery strike while he and his family were sheltering at their neighbour’s house. His daughter and his granddaughter were both injured in the strike.”

The victim’s daughter, Safia, told Amnesty in a testimony that. “We lost my father to a Coalition strike and my brother’s wife and three children were killed by a mine laid by Daesh (IS) as they were trying to leave the city. We could not even recover their bodies.”

In July 2019 the Coalition announced that it had assessed this allegation of civilian harm to be non-credible. Their monthly civilian casualty report noted: “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 incident occured at 14:15:00 local time.

The victims were named as:

Hafeth Al-Ghalladhi
Adult male killed
Child of Hafeth
Age unknown injured
Grandchild of Hafeth
Age unknown injured

Summary

  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected belligerent
    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
    in Raqqa, Syria
    Nearest population center
  • Location accuracy
    100 m
  • MGRS coordinate
    37SDV994783
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Jul 26, 2019
  • Jul. 24, 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 nine ISIS tactical units; destroyed seven fighting positions,
a VBIED, and a mortar system; and damaged a fighting position.

Summary

  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition