Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Five civilians died in an alleged Coalition airstrike on a field hospital in Tabaqa, according to the Smart News Agency.
Smart reported that “the city was subjected to more than 13 air strikes, which led to the destruction of a field hospital, killing seven people who were wounded inside the hospital, including five civilians, two nurses and two members of Islamic State, in addition to the injury of the IS doctor Abu Jawad al-Homsi.”
No further details are currently available.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Tabaqah (الثورة), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.8295049, 38.5360909. 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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The report contained insufficient information of the time, location and details to assess its credibility.
Original strike reports
For April 29th-30th the Coalition reported: “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.”
For April 30th - May 1st the Coalition reported: "Near Tabqah, 14 strikes engaged 12 ISIS tactical units; destroyed five ISIS oil stills, two vehicles, and a fighting position; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit"
The Coalition later reported: "Near Tabqah, Syria; on April 28-29, six strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed four vehicles, two VBIEDs, and three fighting positions; damaged three fighting positions and suppressed two ISIS tactical units"
‘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.’