Airwars assessment
Two families died in an incident at Al Hazimah, according to local sources – though reports are conflicted as to whether they died in Coalition airstrikes or artillery strikes by other forces.
SY reporter said that a family and a doctor were killed and blamed the Coalition.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that “a doctor was martyred in addition to the martyrdom of his brother and four members of their families following a bombardment of areas in the town of Hazima in the northern countryside of Ar Raqqah”
However, @spm_Syria blamed “artillery shelling by separatist forces on a town”, while Alaraby said that shelling by the SDF was responsible.
@i3ub2Z7eMKR5LDB pointed towards “Kurdish militias”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (1)
- Mustafa Qasim (and family) Age unknown male killed
- Ahmed Al Qasim Adult male Doctor killed
Summary
Sources (18) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Al Hazima (الهزيمة), for which the coordinates are: 36.1320519, 38.9661026, in the northern countryside of Raqqa governorate.
Attached to this civilian harm incident is the Pentagon's declassified assessment of this civilian harm allegation, obtained by Azmat Khan and the New York Times through Freedom of Information requests and lawsuits filed since March 2017, 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 and strike video it was assessed that there is insufficient evidence to find civilians were harmed in this strike.
Original strike reports
For April 11th-12th, the Coalition reported: “Near Raqqa, eight strikes engaged an ISIS staging area, weapons storage cache, and command and control node.”
For April 12th-13th, the Coalition reported: “Near Raqqa seven strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle and a fighting position.”