Geolocation
Airwars assessment
One man, named as Omar al-Kafri, was killed in an alleged US-led Coalition strike in Raqqa, local sources said.
It was reported by Raqqa r_w_b that Omar al-Kafri was struck nearby “the house of his family, beside the Al Hadika Al Bayda while distributing water from the well he had dug with his neighbours”.
All sources tracked held the US-led Coalition responsible for this civilian casualty incident.
The Daraa Martyrs Documentation Center later also reported the death of Mohammed Abdul Rahim Al-Kafri from Daraa-Al-Mutaiya who was “killed after he was hit by an air raid of the International Alliance on the city of Raqqa in the province of Raqqa on 20.8.2017”.
On March 20th, RBSS reported the exhumation of Mohammad al Kafri and Hassan al Tadmuri. RBSS stated that the two men that were pulled from under the rubble were killed in a Coalition strike “on a water well in the area of al Hadika al Baidaa”. It is important to note that the report detailed that the airstrike had taken place on August 16th. However, Airwars researchers have assessed that the incident is more likely to be related to the August 19th airstrike – all known public allegations mention the same precise location and Mohammad al Kafri shares the same surname with the aforementioned victim.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention the White Garden (الحديقة البيضا) area of Raqqah, for which the coordinates are: 35.9605703, 38.9976883.
Summary
Sources (6) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (5) [ collapse]
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Omar Abdul Rahim al-Kafri, Abu Saleh, killed in an alleged Coalition strike on Raqqa, Aug 19th (via Raqqa r_w_b)
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One of the victims of the air strike (via RBSS)
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Mohammed Al-Kafri (via RBSS)
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The place where the bodies were found (via RBSS)
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One of the victims of the air strike (via RBSS)
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 18th-19th the Coalition reported “Near Raqqah, 19 strikes engaged 17 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 20 fighting positions, an anti-air artillery system, and a command and control node.” It additionally reported that “On Aug. 18, near Raqqah, Syria, 20 strikes engaged 14 ISIS tactical units, destroyed 14 fighting positions, and damaged a tunnel entrance.” And that “On Aug. 18, near Raqqah, Syria, four strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed six fighting positions.” Also that “On Aug. 18, near Raqqah, Syria, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.”
‘Saturday 19 August – Typhoons bombed a truck on the move near Bayji, while Tornados attacked a terrorist position in Raqqa...A Typhoon flight faced a challenging target on Saturday 19 August – a fast-moving truck carrying a group of terrorists across the desert in Iraq, west of Bayji. Despite the vehicle’s speed, a Paveway IV was guided accurately onto the target, destroying it. Tornados continued to provide close air support to the Syrian Democratic Forces in Raqqa, destroying a terrorist strongpoint.’
For Aug 16-22, France report 5 strikes in Iraq and 2 in Syria. Task Force Wagram conducted 60 artillery missions