Airwars assessment
One named civilian was reported killed in a Coalition airstrike on al Ahwas.
According to Raqqa is Being Slaughtered a young man named as Mu’taz Minwar al Ta’an died. The Syrian Observatory also reported that “a person was killed in bombing by warplanes believed to belong to the International Coalition, they targeted areas near the village of al-Ahwas east of Al-Raqqah.”
Asharqiya had reported the previous day that SDF forces had heabily shelled the town, forcing civilian inhabitants to flee to the edges. Shaam News also noted that “the international coalition has intensified its bombing of the villages and towns of rural eastern province of Raqqa, leaving new massacres against unarmed civilians, amid continued clashes between SDF forces and elements of IS.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (10) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (3) [ collapse]
-
Juma’a Mahmoud Hamad al Hito (via Raqqa is Being Slaughtered)
-
A reported Coalition strike on al Karama March 8th killed at least one civilian (Photo via Raqqa is Being Slaughtered)
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
-
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 March 7th-8th the Coalition stated: “Near Ar Raqqah, four strikes destroyed three fighting positions, two tunnels, a vehicle repair facility, and a tactical vehicle.”