Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Multiple reports said that 99 civilians died and approximately 120 had been wounded in alleged Coalition airstrikes on Raqqa within the last 72 hours. These numbers, however, are general numbers and Airwars has not, so far, been able to break them down to specific locations.
Al Hasaka Rasd, @raassaf77, @freedom_raqqa1, @mogthdarqqat, @alksndr111, @Mohamma26725093 produced carbon copies of the same report giving these figures.
According to Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, “there were nearly 100 martyrs and hundreds wounded in days by daily massacres in the city of Raqqa by the Coalition and the SDF.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the city of Ar Raqqah (الرقة), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.9505639, 39.0094148. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (7) [ 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
For July 28th-29th: “Near Raqqah, 12 strikes engaged 10 ISIS tactical units; destroyed eight fighting positions, an artillery system, and a vehicle; and suppressed a fighting position.” It additionally reported that “On July 28, near Raqqah, Syria, 16 strikes engaged 12 ISIS tactical units, destroyed an anti-air artillery system, and damaged seven fighting positions.”
‘Friday 28 July – a Tornado and Typhoon pair struck a Daesh position in Raqqa…Another mixed Tornado and Typhoon pair assisted the SDF in Raqqa on Friday 28 July, and a Paveway IV was used to destroy a terrorist position.’