Airwars assessment
Up to 16 civilians died and up to 64 were wounded in alleged Coalition air and artillery strikes in Raqqa between August 23rd and 24th, local media reported. It should be noted that these are general numbers and may encompass other casualty events; moreover, locations of these deaths in Raqqa are currently unclear.
Euphrates Post reported “more than 15 martyrs and dozens injured following 70 air raids and dozens of artillery shells by SDF militias targeting the neighbourhoods of the city of Raqqa in the past 48 hours.”
Airwars understands that only the Coalition has access to artillery in Raqqa. According to the Shaam News Network on August 24th, the Coalition carried out 77 air strikes in Raqqa during the past 24 hours.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (14) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident 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.
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 23rd-24th: “Near Raqqah, nine strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units and destroyed 11 fighting positions and a vehicle.” It additionally reported that “On Aug. 23, near Raqqah, Syria, 44 strikes engaged 27 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 77 fighting positions, six ISIS headquarters, three command and control nodes, an explosives cache, a heavy machine gun, and a vehicle.”
Wednesday 23 August – Typhoons attacked two terrorist positions in Raqqa, whilst Tornados and Typhoons hit an armed truck and terrorists on foot in and around Tal Afar…On Wednesday 23 August, a Typhoon flight used Paveway IVs to destroy two defensive positions in Raqqa, from which Daesh extremists were firing on the Syrian Democratic Forces.