Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1613

Incident date

October 9, 2017

Location

Ar Raqqah, Syria

Geolocation

35.959329, 39.003542 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Exact location (via Airwars) level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Two men died as a result of US-led Coalition artillery strike on Raqqah city, local sources alleged.

The Amnesty and Airwars’s joint April 2019 report “War in Raqqa: Rhetoric versus Reality” reported that “Ala’Eddin Haj Ibrahim, and his neighbour Mohammed AbdelHadi al-Zein, both aged 51, were killed by an artillery strike outside Ala’eddine home.”

The victims wife, Aisha gave a testimony to Amnesty stating that “There was often a lot of shelling, from the air and on the ground. There was nowhere safe but we could not get out of the city.”

Despite the source reporting that the strike occurred on the 9th October 2017, Aisha confirmed that the date was actually the 5th September 2017, at 10.30am.

In their monthly civilian casualty reports, the US-led Coalition has indicated that the credibility of this civilian harm allegation is in the process of being assessed.

The incident occured at 10:30:00 local time.

The victims were named as:

Family members (3)

Adult male 51 killed
Abdul Hadi Ahmed Al Zein
Child male not named by Amnesty killed
years old male 51 killed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • (2 men)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    US-led Coalition

Sources (5) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • Mohamed Abdel Hadi Zein and Abdul Hadi Ahmed Al Zein, both killed in an alleged Coalition airstrike on Raqqa, 9th October 2017. (via Raqqa Media Center)
  • Alaedin Haj Ibrahim, killed in an alleged Coalition airstrike on 9th October 2017. (via Amnesty)

Geolocation notes (2) [ collapse]

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.

  • Before strike. (via Amnesty)

  • After strike. (via Amnesty)

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Open incident
  • Civilian deaths conceded
    None
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    None

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For October 9th-10th the Coalition publicly reported no strikes in Raqqa.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • (2 men)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    US-led Coalition

Sources (5) [ collapse]