Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Six civilians were reported killed in an alleged Coalition airstrike in the vicinity of a camp for internally displaced Syrians.
Smart News reported: “A local source told the Smart correspondent that aircraft likely to be the international coalition shelled a camp for displaced people near the village of Al-Barda (20 km west of Raqqa), killing six civilians, including three women and a child, wounding four others and burning tents.”
No further details are currently available.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Al Barouda (البارودة), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.8965073, 38.8007712. 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. (1359)
Original strike reports
For April 21st-22nd, the Coalition reported: “Near Raqqah, 15 strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed a fighting position, an ISIS bridge, a command and control node, and a mortar system.”
For April 22nd-23rd, the Coalition reported: “Near Raqqah, 10 strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit, destroyed 24 ISIS oil facility assets and a fighting position.”
‘Sunday 23 April – Typhoons destroyed an armed truck south-west of Tabqah in Syria, while Tornados bombed a Daesh position in western Mosul…On Sunday 23 April, Typhoons assisted the SDF, destroying an armed truck near Tabqah, west of Raqqa. In western Mosul, a Daesh-held building was struck by a Paveway IV, released by a Tornado flight, after Iraqi troops came under fire from the building.’