Geolocation
Airwars assessment
One man died and dozens of other civilians were reportedly wounded in an alleged Coalition airstrike on the village of Al ‘Abbara, according to local sources.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently were among sources reporting that a Coalition raid struck the village school, killing one man and wounding other civilians.
According to Qasioun, “one civilian died and dozens were injured this evening by the bombing of the international coalition fighter village “Abbara” in the northern countryside district, with several air raids.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (8) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Al ‘Abbara (العبارة), Raqqa governorate, for which the coordinates are: 36.1553406, 39.0213776.
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. (1341)
Original strike reports
For April 16th – 17th the Coalition reported: “Near Raqqah, five strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed four fighting positions and a mortar system. Near Tabqah, five strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and suppressed three ISIS tactical units.”
For April 17th-18th the Coalition reported: “Near Raqqah, one strike destroyed a front-end loader. Near Tabqah, seven strikes [1 British] engaged five ISIS tactical units, destroyed three fighting positions and damaged six fighting positions.”
‘Monday 17 April – Typhoons struck a further target in Syria, south of Tabqah, and Tornados destroyed a heavy machine-gun in Rawah, western Iraq…On Monday 17 April, the Tornados operated over western Iraq, where a heavy machine-gun had been spotted, concealed within a grove of trees at Rawah. A single Paveway IV destroyed the weapon. Typhoons continued their support to the SDF west of Raqqah, and conducted a successful Paveway attack on a group of terrorists positioned in a treeline to the south of Tabqah.’