(Previous Incident Code: S172)

Airstrikes in the Al Hosh and al Fouroussiya areas of Raqqah killed at least three civilians including a child according to reports – although it was unclear whether the attack was the work of Russia or the Coalition. Ten Daesh fighters were also said to have been killed.

The Syrian Observatory reported in English that “Rose to 3 the number of civilians who were killed by aerial bombardment by the coalition warplanes targeted the city of al-Raqqa.” However in its Arabic report the group stated it “did not know whether it was the Russians or an international coalition.” Qasioun also said “local sources from within the city confirmed that the nature of the raids suggest that the fighters belonged to the international airline alliance.” All other sources blamed Russia.

Syria News for example reported that “Russian jets launched five raids, two of them with cluster bombs on the Al I’laf building and the area of al Fouroussiya club [riding club] and near the water company south and west of the city.” According to their source 7 civilians died including two children, with 35 others injured.

In their February 2020 civilian casualty report, the US-led Coalition assessed reports that they were responsible for civilian harm in this strike as “non-credible”, stating that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area at that time.