Geolocation
Airwars assessment
A single source, the Smart News Agency, reported that “three civilians were killed and 11 others were wounded, including a pregnant woman, in suspected Coalition raids on the village of Hamra Balasem“.
No further details are currently available.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Hamra Blassem (حمرة بلاسم), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.878056, 39.197222. 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. (1374)
Original strike reports
For April 24th-25th, the Coalition reported: “Near Tabqah, seven strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed three ISIS command and control nodes, a fighting position, and a heavy machine gun; and suppressed two ISIS tactical units.” For April 25th-26th, the Coalition reported no strikes at Raqqa though noted that “Near Tabqah, six strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; and destroyed four fighting positions and a fuel truck.“ The Coalition later reported: "Near Tabqah, on April 25, two strikes destroyed two fighting positions" and * "On April 24, near Tabqah, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; and destroyed two fighting positions and a rocket-propelled grenade team"