Geolocation
Airwars assessment
ISIL’s media wing was among those reporting the deaths of five civilians in an alleged Coalition air raid on Tal al Samin.
According to Al A’Amaq, “five people were killed after their home was targeted with an air raid in the village of Tal al Samin Janoubi, north of Raqqa.” However, heavy artlllery strikes were also reported on the town.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Tall al Samin (تل السمن), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.2282119, 38.9726257. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (5) [ collapse]
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 and strike video it was assessed that there is insufficient evidence to find civilians were harmed in this strike.
Original strike reports
For November 18th-19th, the Coalition reported “Near Ar Raqqah, two strikes engaged an ISIL storage facility and destroyed seven oil storage tanks and four oil transfer compressors. Near Ayn Isa, 13 strikes engaged 10 ISIL tactical units; destroyed five fighting positions, an IED facility, a VBIED, and an artillery system; and damaged a supply route.“