Geolocation
Airwars assessment
A single source, the Smart News Agency, reported that six civilians died and 10 were injured in an alleged Coalition airstrike on the villages of Al Khatuniya and Al Qahtaniya.
According to the Smart News Agency, “A medical source from the hospital of the city of Raqqa said that six people were killed, including three women and a child, and ten others were injured in the air strike. The source said that the shelling targeted the villages of Khatouniya and Al-Kahtaniya (15 km west of Raqqa).”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Khatouniya (الخاتونية), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.9219103, 38.737935. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
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 geographical area that correspond to the report of civilian casualties
Original strike reports
For March 27th-28th: “Near Ar Raqqa, five strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; and destroyed eight barges, a vehicle, a front-end loader, and a truck and trailer.”
For March 28th-29th: "Near Ar Raqqah, one strike destroyed an ISIS pump jack."
"Monday 27 March – Typhoons supported operations in Mosul, while Tornados eliminated a mortar team in eastern Syria…Armed reconnaissance missions continued over the weekend, gathering intelligence on Daesh positions in Syria and Iraq. On Monday 27 March, Typhoons again patrolled over Mosul, and used one Paveway IV against a building from which Daesh fighters were continuing to engage Iraqi forces. Over eastern Syria, two Tornados attacked a building in a remote area south of Hasakah, from which a Daesh mortar team was operating against Syrian Democratic Forces."