Geolocation
Airwars assessment
One civilian male died in Raqqa, according to local media, though sources were conflicted as to whether he was killed by an SDF sniper or by artillery.
Ahmad al Shibli , RBSS and Raqqa Media Center all blamed artillery for his death. Airwars understands that only the Coalition has access to artillery in Raqqa.
However, Soheb Al Haskawi, Al Hasaka Rasd, Shbab, Ar Raqqa Ahlna and Ar Raqqa Al a’ahlya said that a sniper killed him.
In their August 2020 civilian casualty report, the US-led Coalition assessed reports that they were responsible for civilian harm in this strike as “non-credible”, stating that the allegation provided insufficient information on the timing and location of the strike to make a determination.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (11) [ 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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July 31, 2017, in Raqqah, Syria, via Airwars report. The report contains insufficient information on time, location, or details to assess its credibility. 3139/CS1307 37SEV008784
Original strike reports
For July 31st – August 1st: “Near Raqqah, 16 strikes engaged 11 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 14 fighting positions, a tactical vehicle, a mortar system and a VBIED facility.” It additionally reported that “On July 31, near Raqqah, Syria, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units.”
‘Monday 31 July – Typhoons attacked a Daesh defensive position and two sniper teams in Raqqa…Royal Air Force Tornado, Typhoon and Reaper aircraft have continued to fly daily armed reconnaissance missions against Daesh over Syria and Iraq, and have delivered a number of air strikes against terrorist targets in Raqqa. On Monday 31 July, two flights of Typhoons, based at RAF Akrotiri, delivered successful attacks with Paveway IV guided bombs against a defensive position from which Daesh were firing on the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and against two sniper teams.’