Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1397

Incident date

August 20, 2017

Location

Ar Raqqah, Raqqa, Syria

Geolocation

35.9505639, 39.0094148 Note: The accuracy of this location is to City level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Between 50 and 118 civilians were killed, including many women and children, in the city of Raqqa in the last 48-72 hours. The sources blamed US-led Coalition airstrikes for the significant number of life lost over the short period. According to @AhmadShbli, seven whole families were part of those killed.

Smart news agency reported “in Raqqa, 50 civilians were killed and about 60 wounded on Tuesday night by an air strike likely to be the international coalition and the gunners of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) “.

According to Euphrates Post and @kalimahorra1 “most” of the 118 victims killed over a 48 hour period were women and children.

This is a general civilian casualty entry, it may encompass numbers from other incidents.

 

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Geolocation notes

Reports of these incidents mention the city of Ar Raqqah (الرقة‎), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.9505639, 39.0094148. Due to the limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    50 – 118
  • Civilians reported injured
    60
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (10) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • # Raqqa: 118 martyrs, many of them children and children have been killed by coalition aircraft bombed the city of Raqqa in the past 48 hours.

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Non credible / Unsubstantiated
    Insufficient information to assess that, more likely than not, a Coalition strike resulted in civilian casualties.
  • Reason for non-credible assessment
    Insufficient information on the time and location
  • Civilian deaths conceded
    None
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    None
  • Stated location
    near Raqqah, Syria
    Nearest population center

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Jun 28, 2018
  • The report contains insufficient information of the time, location and details to assess its credibility

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For August 19th-20th, the Coalition reported: “Near Raqqah, five strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed three fighting positions.“

French Military
  • English
    /
    Original

For Aug 16-22, France report 5 strikes in Iraq and 2 in Syria. Task Force Wagram conducted 60 artillery missions

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    50 – 118
  • Civilians reported injured
    60
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (10) [ collapse]