Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Five civilians were allegedly killed and three injured following reported Coalition airstrikes on Ma’adan.
According to Madar News, “likely coalition raids on the town of Ma’adan east of the city of Raqqa killed five people and injured three.” Other sources repeated the same formula.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (5) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Ma’adan (معدان), Raqqa governorate, for which the coordinates are: 35.754158, 39.602852. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
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. (1345)
Original strike reports
For April 17th-18th the Coalition reported: “Near Tabqah, seven strikes [1 British] engaged five ISIS tactical units, destroyed three fighting positions and damaged six fighting positions.”
For April 18th-19th the Coalition reported: “Near Tabqah, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.”
‘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.’