Geolocation
Airwars assessment
One civilian male died in a Coalition artillery bombardment or a mortar strike by the SDF in Raqqa, according to local media.
Ar Raqqa Al a’ahlya reported that the victim bled to death from a shrapnel wound.
Most sources blamed artillery for the man’s death. Airwars understands that only the Coalition has access to artillery in Raqqa.
However, one source – the Syrian Network for Human Rights – said that Mr al Dandoush died when a SDF mortar hit his home.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (12) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
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Mazen Kamel al-Dandoush, killed by artillery or (according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights) a SDF mortar in Raqqa, August 2nd 2017. (via RBSS)
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the city of Raqqa (الرقة). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The incident was first reported on August 7, 6 days after the incident
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 August 2nd-3rd: “Near Raqqah, 14 strikes engaged 10 ISIS tactical units and destroyed nine fighting positions, two vehicles, a supply cache, a VBIED, a mortar position, an ISIS UAS site, and a generator.” It additionally reported that “On Aug. 2, near Raqqah, Syria, 20 strikes engaged 11 ISIS tactical units and destroyed six fighting positions, two supply caches, a tactical vehicle, a tunnel, a VBIED factory, and a command and control node.”
‘Wednesday 2 August – Typhoons destroyed a Daesh strongpoint in Raqqa…Typhoons provided further close air support to the SDF on Wednesday 2 August; they found themselves coming under sustained heavy machine-gun and sniper fire from a building in Raqqa, but were able to pinpoint the Daesh position, allowing our aircraft to attack with a Paveway IV.’