Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Seven non-combatants including three children died and five others were wounded in an alleged Coalition airstrike on various locations in Raqqa governorate, according to a single source.
The Smart news network reported that “seven civilians were killed including of three children, and five others were injured, including women, following raids on the town of Al Karama (25 km east of Raqqa) and the villages of Al Ghassaniya, Jadidat al Khabour and Kleib. The injured were transported in boats to the South Bank to Al Tabaqa national hospital, according to local sources.” Smart said that the strikes had “likely” been carried out by the Coalition.
Al Ahed published a report which was mostly identical to Smart’s, though it said that the news came from militant sources.
Shaam News Network and Asharqiya Voice also reported that the Coalition carried out raids on Al Karama, though made no mention of civilian casualties.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the city of Various locations, for which the generic coordinates are: 35.9505639, 39.0094148. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (5) [ 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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The report contains insufficient information of the time, location and details to assess its credibility.
Original strike reports
For March 13th-14th: “Near Ar Raqqah, six strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed four fighting positions, an ISIS-held building, and a vehicle; and damaged two supply routes.”
For March 14th-15th: "Near Ar Raqqah, eight strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed six fighting positions, two mortar systems, an ammunition cache, an ISIS-held building, and a weapons cache."