Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Four civilians were reported killed and two others injured following an alleged Coalition strike on Hattash.
According to Euphrates Post, “Coalition aircraft caused the deaths of four other [civilians] last night, a result of four air raids targeting the village of Hattash which is under the control of Islamic state in eastern Raqqa, which also caused considerable destruction to a number of residential buildings in the center of the village. It is noteworthy that the international airline alliance has intensified its air raids on positions controlled by the organization [IS] in the northern, eastern and western countryside to coincide with the advance of SDF in the west of the city.”
Smart and Syrian Mirror said the Coalition was responsible and that three of the four civilians killed were from one family – and included a woman.
Eldorar also blamed the Coalition and put the death toll at five.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (14) [ 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 it was assessed that no Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area that correspond to the report of civilian casualties.
Original strike reports
For January 8th-9th, the Coalition reported that “Near Ar Raqqah, 15 strikes [1 British] engaged five ISIL tactical units; destroyed six oil refinement stills, three supply caches, two bridges, two artillery systems, a VBIED, a bulldozer, a UAV, an IED, a dump truck, a pontoon bridge, a tank, and an armored vehicle; and damaged a supply route. Near Ayn Isa, one strike destroyed a repeater station.”