Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1636

Incident date

September 19–October 10, 2017

Location

Ar Raqqah, Syria

Geolocation

35.956964, 39.001378 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Exact location (via Airwars) level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Up to five civilians, including one child and three women, were reportedly killed by an alleged Coalition strike at some point during the Raqqa Campaign, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) and Amnesty and Airwars’s joint April 2019 report “War in Raqqa: Rhetoric versus Reality” reported.

The first report was made by RBSS who reported the death of a man and his wife after they were missing for several months. RBSS said that they were killed in a previous bombing by international coalition aircraft on the city of Al-Raqqa.

In April 2019, Amnesty International and Airwars published a joint report from the battle of Raqqa, which echoed RBSS report about the death of the married couple while interviews with an eyewitness told Amnesty’s researchers that a total of five victims were killed. As, besides from the married couple, two women and one child were also killed.

While only the man and two women are identified by name, the eyewitness, who was the child of the married couple, told Amnesty that a child and possibly his mother (as she was found cuddling the little boy) were among the remaining two victims.

It is currently unclear at what point during the Raqqa campaign that the victims died. Amnesty and Airwars’ research suggests that the incident took place somewhere between September 19th and October 10th.

Interviews with eyewitnesses also indicated that there were no Daesh fighters in that building.

On March 10, 2022 in the CJTF-OIR Civilian Casualty Report, the Coalition listed this incident as occurring on Sept. 23, 2017 and reported this incident to be “non-credible”, stating that “After review of all available evidence it was determined that more likely than not civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition strike.”

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (2)

Hassan al Sueri
81 years old male killed
Marian Steif
72 years old female Wife of Hassan al Sueri killed

The victims were named as:

Haja Amal Anteebah
75 years old female killed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5
  • (1 child3 women1 man)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • 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

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • Hassan al-Sueri killed with his wife at some point during the Raqqah campaign by an alleged Coaltion airstrike (RBSS)

Geolocation notes

Coordinates released by the Coalition place the event at 35.95696, 39.00138

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Open incident
  • Stated location
    near Raqqah, Syria
    Nearest population center
  • Location accuracy
    1 m
  • MGRS coordinate
    37SEV0012479175
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Mar 10, 2022
  • Sept. 23, 2017, near Raqqah, Syria, via Amnesty International report. After review of all available evidence it was determined that more likely than not civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition strike. 2767/CS1636 37SEV0012479175

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

Date of event currently unknown.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5
  • (1 child3 women1 man)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • 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