Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Four civilians were reported killed – three of them possibly children – in alleged Coalition strikes on the village of Shanina.
According to the Syrian Press Centre “Activists said aircraft believed to be from the international coalition targeted civilian houses in the village of Shanina with several air raids, which resulted in the deaths of four civilians, more than seven others were injured in an initial toll, and among the martyrs are three children.”
Halab Today also reported deaths though said the three children were injured not killed: “Four martyrs including an old man and his wife in addition to 7 wounded including three children.” It published an apparent image of the strike location.
Smart News said one Islamic State fighter also died in the attack.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Shanina (شنينة), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.0089089, 39.0964794. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (3) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
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Reported scene of four civilian deaths following an alleged Coalition strike on Shanina, January 27th 2017 (via Halab Today TV)
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 26th-27th the Coalition publicly noted that “Near Ar Raqqah, nine strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed 10 oil refinement stills, five oil storage tanks, three oil pump jacks, an ISIL-held building, and two oil tanker trucks.”