Geolocation
Airwars assessment
At least six civilians were killed and four injured in what was reported as a Coalition drone strike at Kabsh in northern Al Raqqah.
The attack targeted what was described as “a small convoy of vehicles transporting passengers”. A minibus carrying the civilians was said to have been destroyed.
The Syrian Press Centre was the only source not to attribute blame to the Coalition, citing “an unknown party”.
In July 2017, the Coalition classed the event as non credible on grounds of available evidence of civilian harm: “Dec. 12, 2015, near Kabsh, Syria, via Airwars report: After a review of available information and strike video it was assessed that there is insufficient evidence to find that civilians were harmed in this strike.”
Given that the Coalition has confirmed targeting vehicles at Raqqah that day, Airwars has requested additional information – and continues to assess this event as likely.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Kabsh (كبش), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.1308734, 38.8404465. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (6) [ collapse]
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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After a review of available information and strike video it was assessed that there is insufficient evidence to find that civilians were harmed in this strike.
Original strike reports
The Coalition did not publicly report any strikes in Al Raqqah for December 11th-12th 2015.