Airwars assessment
In the Amnesty and Airwars’s joint April 2019 report “War in Raqqa: Rhetoric versus Reality”, two civilians were reportedly killed in alleged Coalition mortar attack in Raqqa. Although Airwars assesses single sourced incidents as “weak”, researchers have assessed this incident “fair” due to the depth of material provided by Amnesty.
The report states that “Mohamed Hsein Taha, and his son Faysal were killed at their home by mortars fired by US forces from a position west of Raqqa.”
Mahmoud, brother of the victim, gave a testimony to Amnesty saying that “My brother and his son were by the door of the house when the mortar struck the street, killing them both.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (2)
- Mohamed (Abu Aziz) Hammud Taha 65 years old male killed
- Faysal 23 years old male son of Mohamed killed
Summary
Sources (1) [ collapse]
Attached to this civilian harm incident is the Pentagon's declassified assessment of this civilian harm allegation, obtained by Azmat Khan and the New York Times through Freedom of Information requests and lawsuits filed since March 2017, 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:
Original strike reports
Not yet assessed.