Incident Code

CS1379a

Location

Raqqa, Raqqa, Syria

Geolocation

35.957289, 38.994414
Accuracy: Exact location (via Airwars)

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: December 15, 2024

In Amnesty and Airwars’ joint April 2019 report “War in Raqqa: Rhetoric versus Reality”, three civilians were reportedly killed in alleged Coalition artillery strikes in Raqqa.

Although Airwars generally assesses single sourced incidents as “weak”, our researchers have assessed this incident “fair” due to the depth of material provided by Amnesty.

The Amnesty report noted that “Ahmad Mohammed al-Hammadi, a mathematics teacher, 65, his wife Zahra Mahammed al-Khamri, 50, and their son Abderrahman Ahmad al-Hammadi, 20, were killed by an artillery strike on their home. A month earlier their other son, Abdallah, was killed in another artillery strike while fetching water from a well.”

The daughter of the victim, Maha, told Amnesty in testimony that “Only me and my sister survived. We have no one left. My brother Abdallah was killed by the well when he went to fetch water, then my parents and my brother Aabderrahman, Abdallah’s twin, were killed when our home was hit by a shell.”

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.”

Victims

Family members (3)

Ahmad Mohammed al-Hammadi
65 years old male mathematics teacher killed
Zahra Mahammed al-Khamri
50 years old female wife of Ahmad killed
Abderrahman Ahmad al-Hammadi
20 years old male son of Ahmad and Zahra killed

Key Information

Country
Military Actor
Strike Type
Artillery
Civilian Harm Reported
Yes
Civilian Harm Status
Fair
Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
Civilians reported killed
3
1 Woman, 2 Men

Military Statements

U.S.-led Coalition Assessment
Suspected belligerent
U.S.-led Coalition
U.S.-led Coalition position on incident
Non credible / Unsubstantiated
Reason for non-credible assessment
No Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area
Civilian deaths conceded
None
Civilian injuries conceded
None
Stated location
in Raqqa, Syria
Location accuracy
100 m
MGRS coordinate
37SDV995792
U.S.-led Coalition Strike Report
Near Raqqah, 20 strikes engaged 16 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 17 fighting positions, a logistics node, an IED, a command and control node, an ISIS UAS and a vehicle.
U.S.-led Coalition Civilian Casualty Statement
2019-07-26
Original Source
Aug. 17, 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.

Media From Sources (4)