Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Between one and two civilians died and up to five were injured in an alleged Coalition airstrike on the Al Thani and Awwal neighbourhoods of Al Tabaqa, according to local sources.
According to Smart News, “local sources reported the death of one civilian and wounding of others, on Wednesday evening, as a result of aerial bombardment likely carried out by the international Coalition on Al Tabaqa city (55 km west of Raqqa). “The source told Smart that the warplanes launched two raids on the first and second neighbourhoods, killing one civilian and wounding five others, who were taken to the National Hospital in the city.”
Micro Syria also blame the Coalition putting the death toll at one civilian.
Hewar.Khayma said that two were killed – though it didn’t identify who the warplane responsible belonged to. A tweet by Abdulbaset10 had noted “An American warplane B52 is flying over Tabaqa city now.”
The Coalition itself has denied conducting strikes in the geographic area that corresponded to claims of civilian harm on this date.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (7) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention Al Thani/Hurriyah (Second) neighbourhood (لحي الثاني) and Al Wahdah (First) neighbourhood (الحي الأول). The coordinates for Al Thani (لحي الثاني)are: 35.846667, 38.543889. The coordinates for Al Wahdah (الحي الأول) are: 35.850000, 38.553333. Airwars assessment uses a midpoint between the two: 35.8489, 38.5499.
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 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.”
For March 15th-16th: "Near Ar Raqqah, 13 strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed four fighting positions, an IED, a weapons storage facility, a storage facility, a VBIED facility, a UAV facility, a logistics facility, and an ammunition cache."