Geolocation
Airwars assessment
At least one person was killed by alleged Coalition raids in the vicinity of al Jatal, according to sparse local reports. However a Turkish assault on the village was also reported at the time.
Halab News named one male victim who it also said was a victim of “coalition raids.”
The only other specific report was from a Twitter user named Samran al A’anzi, who said that 4 civilians died during “international coalition raids on Al Jatal.” Other reports indicated the Turkish army, or Turkish-backed forces, were operating in the area.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (3) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
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Local Islamists posted photographs they said showed 'the repelling of the storming by the apostate Turkish army on al Jatal village west of al Ghandoura town.' (via blog which has since been blocked)
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Al Jatal (الجطل), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.5781778, 37.7233572. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Attached to this civilian harm incident is a provisional reconciliation of the Pentagon's declassified assessment of this civilian harm allegation, based on matching date and locational information.
The declassified documents were obtained by Azmat Khan and the New York Times through Freedom of Information requests and lawsuits filed since March 2017, and are included alongside the corresponding press release published by the Pentagon. Airwars is currently analysing the contents of each file, and will update our own assessments accordingly.
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area of the reported civilian casualties.
Original strike reports
For October 23rd-24th, the Coalition reported no strikes in the area. For October 24th-25th, the Coalition reported “Near Mar’a, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two fighting positions, a mortar system, and a vehicle.”