Geolocation
Airwars assessment
As many as 24 civilians were killed in attacks – possibly carried out by both SDF and Coalition – according to local sources.
Raqqa is Being Silently Slaughtered initially reported 7 victims killed “in the international coalition raids and Kurdish militia artillery.” It later released an updated casualty assessment, counting 23 victims as victims of “a massacre committed by the international coalition.” RBSS identified 16.
Local Coordination Committees in Syria reported a lower total in the village of 9 and attributed their deaths to SDF forces. The Syrian Network also reported shelling, describing the incident as a “massacre.” The Syrian Observatory blamed the Coalition and put the final death toll at 20, including 9 women and 2 chidlren. It noted clashes in the area between the SDF and ISIL.It cited an eyewitness: ““We were sitting in our houses in the village of al-Haisha as we used to hear the sounds of the coalition warplanes flying over the town. After a few minutes the warplanes targeted the village with missiles leading to massive explosions, the inhabitants ran with their children into shelters, some of them just left their houses without knowing where to go when the coalition warplanes targeted them again leading to the death of one whole family.”
Step News Agency confirmed a total of 23 civilians killed, but claimed they were victims of both SDF artillery and Coalition aircraft “during the past three days.” Masar Press placed the final toll at 24 killed.
In a statement issued January 2nd 2017 the Coalition stated: “Nov. 8, 2016, near Al Heisha or Ayn Issa, Syria: Insufficient information provided or available to assess the credibility of the reported civilian casualties.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (5)
Family members (3)
Family members (3)
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Al Hīshah (الهيشةة), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.35291, 39.01692. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (25) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (5) [ collapse]
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Abd al Khalaf al Saleh's son (via RBSS)
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Civilians fleeing after the air strike (via RBSS)
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Saja Ammar Ayed al Habboud (via RBSS)
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Saja Ammar Ayed al Habboud (via SNHR)
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One of the victims of the air strike (via RBSS)
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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Insufficient information provided or available to assess the credibility of the reported civilian casualties.
Original strike reports
For November 7th-8th, the Coalition reported no strikes near Raqqa but reported “Near Ayn Isa, 15 strikes engaged seven ISIL tactical units, destroyed five fighting positions, three vehicles, two bridges, an artillery system, and damaged three supply routes.”