(Previous Incident Codes: R1013S262RS1122)

In a major civilian casualty event, between 13 and 30 civilians were killed and up to 70 more injured from airstrikes from either a Russian or a Coalition strike on al Idkhar neighbourhood in Raqqa City. Both belligerents report bombing in the area.

Raqaa is Being Slaughtered initially reported on the morning of August 11th: “Wael Haj Hussein martyred and his father injured in coalition raids last night on al Idkhar.”

However it later reported “Shawkat Jajan al Zayid and his daughter martyred following Russian raids on al Idkhar neighbourhood midnight last night.”

Many sources attributed the airstrikes to Russian aircraft, specifically “10 Russian warplanes that launched 12 airstrikes against Raqqa and surrounding areas.”

Following the strikes, Russia published a statement saying that six warplanes bombed Raqqa and surrounding areas, and the Russian Defence Ministry posted a video showing the planes launching and dropping bombs on Raqqa.

According to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, the airstrikes targeted al-Taj hall, the al-Ferdosia area, the Brigade 17 area, a state security building, and the water pumping station in al Kassrat. Then areas effected were identified as those under the control of ISIS by the Syrian Network for Human Rights.

@syriamubasher reported that “at least two people died – in an initial count – dozens more were wounded (including cases of amputations and other serious injuries) when Russia carried out more than a dozen airstrikes in Raqqa city. The raids resulted in water being cut off to entire districts of the city and widespread destruction of buildings and public facilities”.

Photos published by Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently showed the collapse of buildings and houses as a result of the strikes. They also included very graphic images of dead children.

In their May 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.