Geolocation
Airwars assessment
The Smart News Agency reported the death of four civilians in an alleged Coalition airstrike on the village of Al A’lia. It also said that a shop selling animal feed was burned down.
Lebanonnownews also put the death toll at four and blamed the Coalition.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (2) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Al A’lia (العالية), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.821520, 38.765650. 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. (1404)
Original strike reports
For April 28th-29th the Coalition reported: “Near Raqqah, one strike destroyed a front-end loader. Near Tabqah, 10 strikes engaged 10 ISIS tactical units and destroyed seven fighting positions and four vehicles.”
For April 29th - 30th, the Coalition reported: "Near Raqqah, eight strikes engaged six ISIS tactical units and destroyed 10 ISIS barges, three vehicles, two tactical vehicles, and an ISIS bridge" and "Near Tabqah, six strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units, destroyed four fighting positions and a vehicle; damaged an ISIS supply route, and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit"
Additionally, four strikes were conducted in Syria April 28 that closed within the last 24 hours.
"Near Tabqah, Syria, on April 28, four strikes destroyed three fighting positions and a VBIED.”
The Coalition later reported: "Near Raqqah, Syria; on April 29, two strikes destroyed an ISIS-held building, an ISIS staging area"
‘Sunday 30 April – Typhoons attacked a group of Daesh fighters west of Raqqa, while Tornados destroyed two Daesh buildings in Mosul…Sunday 30 April saw Typhoons once more flying in support of the SDF west of Raqqa, where they struck a group of Daesh fighters along the bank of the Euphrates. The Tornados then flew over Mosul, demolishing two Daesh-held buildings which the Iraqi ground forces had encountered.’