Geolocation
Airwars assessment
One civilian died and seven others were injured in an alleged Coalition airstrike on Al Idkhar at Raqqa according to Alaraby, Sadasham and the Smart News Agency.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Coalition carried out strikes in Raqqa on “the former Political Security building” used as a headquarters by ISIL. It didn’t mention civilian casualties but said that five ISIL members were killed and four wounded – though it’s currently unclear whether this was at Al Idkhar.
The incident was first reported on April 10, 2017 at 1:30 pm by Euphrates Post.
Summary
Sources (6) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention the “former political security building” and Al Idkhar (راخدلإا يح) neighbourhood also know as the “Popular Housing” in Raqqa. The coordinates for Al Idkhar neighbourhood (راخدلإا يح) are: 35.955833, 38.986389. It should be noted that Al Idkhar area is small, only approximately 200 m × 200m. We were unable to locate the “former political security building”.
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 April 9th-10th: the Coalition did not report any strikes near Raqqa, though did note that “Near Tabqah, 14 strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed five vehicles, two fighting positions, and a VBIED; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.“
For April 10th-11th: the Coalition reported "* Near Ar Raqqah, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit " and "* Near Tabqah, 12 strikes engaged eight ISIS tactical units; destroyed four vehicles, destroyed three fighting positions, one VBIED and a tactical vehicle."