Geolocation
Airwars assessment
One civilian died in an air or artillery or mortar strike in Raqqa, according to local media – though it was unclear who was to blame.
However, Sharqiya Voice, Al Hadath News Agency and Syrian Press Center said that Shihab al-Din Zidan al-Azzawi died as a result of mortar shelling. Airwars understands that the SDF has access to mortars in Raqqa, therefore, their role in this event cannot be ruled out. The Syrian Network for Human Rights went on to explicitly blamed SDF mortars for his death.
Sources also named Mahmoud Ibrahim al-Jabali as killed but said that he had died by drowning in the Euphrates river and that he was not a victim of a strike.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (13) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (3) [ collapse]
-
Shihab al-Din Zidan al-Azzawi, killed by an alleged airstrike or mortar shell in Raqqa, August 6th 2017. (via Euphrates Post)
-
Mahmoud Ibrahim al-Jabali allegedly died by drowning in the Euphrates river and was not a victim of a strike. (via Orwa Almohawesh)
-
Shihab al-Din Zidane al-Azzawi, killed in an alleged Coalition airstrike on Raqqa, 6th August 2017. (via Free deir Ezzor facebook)
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incidents mention residential neighbourhoods in central and north-western Raqqa. The coordinates for central Raqqa (الرقة) are: 35.9505639, 39.0094148. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
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
-
The report contains insufficient information of the time, location and details to assess its credibility.
Original strike reports
For August 6th-7th: “Near Raqqah, 24 strikes engaged 11 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 30 fighting positions, two vehicles, two command and control nodes, two mortar systems, a tunnel, a heavy machine gun, an IED facility, and a VBIED facility; and damaged six fighting positions.” It additionally reported that “On Aug. 6, near Raqqah, Syria, 12 strikes engaged eight ISIS tactical units and destroyed six fighting positions, a mortar system, an anti-air artillery system, and a VBIED.” And that “On Aug. 6, near Raqqah, Syria, one strike destroyed 10 ISIS fighting positions and two mortar systems.”