Geolocation
Airwars assessment
In an incident not previously tracked by Airwars, on April 1st 2017 the Coalition said it had concluded an assessment on social media claims of civilian harm “near al Tabqah, Syria”. According to the Coalition report, “6. Feb. 17, 2017, near Al Tabqah, Syria, via social media report: After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographic area that correspond to the report of civilian casualties.”
The Coalition provided military coordinates: 37SDV 59072 65703. This location roughly correspondent to the area between the Omar Bin al Khattab mosque and al Nawiya mosque and just behind the vegetable market in the north and slightly east of al Tabaqa.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (1) [ 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 geographic area that correspond to the report of civilian casualties.
Original strike reports
For February 16th-17th, the Coalition reported: “Near Ar Raqqah, 17 strikes engaged two ISIS staging areas and an ISIS tactical unit; and destroyed four tunnels, three fighting positions, three ISIS-held buildings, two weapons storage areas, two ISIS headquarters, a VBIED storage facility, a fuel station and a bridge.” For February 17th-18th, they reported: “Near Ar Raqqah, seven strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; destroyed 70 oil barrels, three oil storage tanks, three fighting positions, two oil refinement stills and a weapons storage area; and damaged a bridge.”