Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Local media sources reported on the death of up to 46 civilians and 60 others wounded following suspected Coalition airstrikes on Raqqa over the previous 48 hours.
According to a report by the Thiqa Agency the “shelling focused on civilian homes and residential neighbourhoods”. These are general numbers and it is likely that they will encompass other civilian casualty reports that Airwars has documented.
Again reporting general numbers, the Syrian Observatory said on August 21st that “the number of people who were killed by bombing by warplanes of the International Coalition in areas in the city of Al-Raqqah has increased to 39 people at least, including 11 children and 9 citizen women”.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (14) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident solely mention the city of Raqqa (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.
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 17th-18th: “Near Raqqah, 18 strikes engaged 12 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 29 fighting positions, three ISIS communication lines and two logistics nodes.” It additionally reported that “On Aug. 17, near Raqqah, Syria, 19 strikes engaged 14 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 13 fighting positions, four command and control nodes, two IEDs, and a heavy machine gun.” And that “On Aug. 17, near Raqqah, Syria, three strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed a fighting position.”
‘Friday 18 August – Tornados destroyed a booby-trapped building in eastern Syria, Typhoons and Tornados dealt with a sniper team in Raqqa…On Friday 18 August, Tornados were tasked with the destruction of a heavily booby-trapped building discovered in eastern Syria, south of Al Hasakah, which was too dangerous to approach. The building was destroyed with a Paveway which safely detonated the concealed explosives. Over Raqqa, a mixed pair of aircraft silenced a sniper firing on the Syrian Democratic Forces.’
In the past week, (11th-18th) France conducted 27 sorties, including 22 armed reconnaissance and ground support (CAS), 1 refueling outlet and 4 intelligence gathering sorties by Atlantic 2 or Rafale patrols. Two strikes were carried out in the Raqqah region of Syria. They helped support the Syrian democratic forces in their offensive to retake the city.
‘OPÉRATION CHAMMAL SITUATION En Syrie, A Raqqah, la progression des forces démocratiques syriennes se poursuit. Au sud de la ville, la manœuvre de tenaille, amorcée il y a 15 jours, s’est achevée en fin de semaine dernière. Elle a permis de réaliser la jonction des fronts est et ouest. Depuis, les forces démocratiques syriennes ont relancé une offensive vers le centre de la ville mais elles font face à une défense acharnée des combattants de Daech. En Irak, Les forces de sécurité irakiennes poursuivent leurs opérations dans l’objectif de libérer, à terme, le nord de l’Irak. Actuellement, elles focalisent leur effort sur l’encerclement de la ville de Tall Afar. Les combattants de l’organisation terroriste réalisent un travail de valorisation de leurs positions défensives pour se préparer aux combats à venir alors que les populations tentent de fuir la ville. ACTIVITÉS DE LA FORCE Les soldats de l’opération Chammal poursuive leur mission d’appui au profit des unités irakiennes engagées contre Daech. Cette semaine, sur le théâtre, les aéronefs ont réalisé 27 sorties aériennes dont 22 de reconnaissance armée et d’appui au sol (CAS), 1 sortie de ravitaillement ainsi que 4 sorties de recueil de renseignement par Atlantique 2 ou patrouille de Rafale. Deux frappes ont été conduites dans la région de Raqqah en Syrie. Elles ont permis d’appuyer les forces démocratiques syriennes dans leur offensive pour reprendre la ville. La Task Force (TF) Wagram a mené de son côté 13 missions de tir en appui de la 15e division à l’ouest de Mossoul vers Tal Afar. En particulier, les artilleurs ont fourni des feux de harcèlement et d’éclairement pour interdire aux combattants de Daech de mener des actions au sol ou de réaliser des tirs indirects contre les positions irakiennes. Le bilan global de l’activité aérienne depuis le 19 septembre 2014 s’élève 1330 frappes, 2102 objectifs détruits et 6946 sorties. ‘
For Aug 16-22, France report 5 strikes in Iraq and 2 in Syria. Task Force Wagram conducted 60 artillery missions.