(Previous Incident Code: S202)

Ten named civilians were reported killed in afternoon airstrikes on the Al Mashlab neighbourhood of Raqqa.

According to the local Civil Defence, “four civilians were martyred due to successive airstrikes by coalition warplanes on Mashlab neighbourhood according to local source.” The Syrian Observatory reported 10 civilian deaths from airstrikes in Al Mashlab and elsewhere in Raqqa, though did not attribute responsibility.

Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered also reported 10 deaths, most of whom it named: “The raids targeted the following sites: The houses of Ali Bashir, Mohammad Alkajwan and Ahmed al-Huwaidi, Al-Halisat mosque and the shops of Alkajwan family.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights blamed the Assad regime, putting the death toll at 10 including one child and two women.

Al Raqqa also said the regime were responsible, as did the Pride Revolution.

A Tweet by Aleppo Now alleged the Coalition were responsible: “coalition planes target al mashlab neighbourhood in raqqa – the biggest centre for Daesh – with several raids.”

RBSS published a number of reports on “warplanes” targeting the Al Mashlab neighbourhood, but did not say who the planes belonged to.

They said that the following areas were targeted:

“1 – the hospitality areaof al Sheikh Ali Al Bashir

2 – the house of Hammoud al Kajwan

3- the house of Mr. Ahmad al Huwaidi

4- near al Kajwan shops.”

However, Raqqa News Network said that this was a Russian incident:

“Treacherous Russian warplanes launched four raids on the city of Raqqa targeting the neighborhood of al Mashlab.”

While the Coalition has confirmed carrying out strikes in the vicinity of raw on June 1st, these appear to have targeted nearby oil facilities rather than the city itself. Both the Assad regime and Russia may also have been responsible.

In the first of their March 2020 civilian casualty reports, 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.