Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Three civilians were reported killed in an alleged Coalition airstrike near Hunaida.
According to the Syrian Observatory, “Explosions were heard in the western countryside of Al-Raqqah city, caused by bombing by warplanes believed to belong to the international coalition on an oil refinery area in Hunaida area at the countryside of al-Tabaqa, which injured several persons with confirmed information about the death of three due to the bombing.”
Step News said three civilians were slain when a temporary refinery in the village was targeted. In its daily report the Coalition confirmed targeting “oil refinement stills.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Hunaida (هنيدة), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.83234, 38.69938. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (4) [ 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 25th-26th the Coalition publicly noted: “Near Ar Raqqah, 12 strikes [1 British] engaged eight ISIL tactical units and destroyed nine fighting positions, three tactical vehicles, two vehicles, a tunnel, a bunker, and an ISIL checkpoint.”