Incident Code

CS1562a

Location

Raqqa, Raqqa, Syria

Geolocation

35.956692, 39.010715
Accuracy: Exact location (via Airwars)

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: December 15, 2024

In the Amnesty and Airwars’s joint April 2019 report “War in Raqqa: Rhetoric versus Reality”, one civilian was reportedly killed in alleged Coalition artillery strikes 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 stated that “Mahmud A’Qader Aama, 22, was killed by an airstrike while fetching water from a well, together with some 35 other civilians who were also fetching water. The air strike targeted the gathering of people fetching water.”

There are no details however of the 35 other victims.

A witness of the strike, Walid, told Amnesty in a testimony that, “It was very dangerous to fetch water. The Coalition planes often bombed the people gathered at the wells. Didn’t they know that we had no other way of getting water? There was no running water in the city; only wells.”

Google Earth shows on 2017/07/07-2017/07/19 damage to a nearby building. However on the 2017/08/19-2017/08/25 more damage can be seen as on the 2017/09/06-2017/09/19.

In July 2019 the Coalition announced that it had assessed this allegation of civilian harm to be non-credible. Their monthly civilian casualty report noted: “After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties.”

Victims

Invidivuals

Mahmud A’Qader Aama
22 years old male killed

Key Information

Country
Military Actor
Strike Type
Airstrike
Civilian Harm Reported
Yes
Civilian Harm Status
Fair
Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
Civilians reported killed
1–35
1 Man

Geolocation Notes

Before strike. (via Amnesty)

After strike. (via Amnesty)

Military Statements

U.S.-led Coalition Assessment
Suspected belligerent
U.S.-led Coalition
U.S.-led Coalition position on incident
Non credible / Unsubstantiated
Reason for non-credible assessment
No Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area
Civilian deaths conceded
None
Civilian injuries conceded
None
Stated location
in Raqqa, Syria
Location accuracy
100 m
MGRS coordinate
37SEV010791
U.S.-led Coalition Strike Report
Near Raqqah, Syria, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions.
U.S.-led Coalition Civilian Casualty Statement
2019-07-26
Original Source
Oct. 1, 2017, in Raqqa, Syria, via Amnesty International report. After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties.