Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS801

Incident date

May 11, 2017

Location

حمرة بلاسم, Hamra Blassem, Raqqa, Syria

Geolocation

35.878056, 39.197222 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Three named civilians died in an alleged Coalition airstrike on Hamra Blassem, according to local media. Smart News reported that there were clashes at the village that day between ISIL and advancing SDF forces.

Al Raqqa Truth named three victims.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights also put the death toll at three – and blamed the Coalition.

In February 2019, the Coalition assessed this event to be non-credible. Their report noted: “After review of all available strike records it was determined that more likely than not civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition strike.”

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Shilbi Mohammad al Saoud
Age unknown killed
Gayth Mohammad Hassan al Ghadban
Age unknown killed
Mazen Hamad al Mustapha al Jijan
Age unknown killed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (18) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • Shibli al Mohammad al Saoud, killed in an alleged Coalition airstrike on Hamra Blassem, May 11th (via Al Ragga Truth)
CJTF–OIR Declassified Assessment and Press Release

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.

Declassified Assessment Press Release

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Non credible / Unsubstantiated
    Insufficient information to assess that, more likely than not, a Coalition strike resulted in civilian casualties.
  • Reason for non-credible assessment
    Other
  • Stated location
    near Hamra Balasem, Syria
    Nearest population center
  • Location accuracy
    100 m
  • MGRS coordinate
    37SEV178708
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Feb 28, 2019
  • May 11, 2017, near Hamra Balasem, Syria, via Airwars report. After review of all available strike records it was determined that more likely than not civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition strike.

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For May 10th-11th, the Coalition reported: “Near Raqqah, 11 strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units; destroyed seven vehicles, three fighting positions, an ISIS barge, a VBIED factory, a weapons storage facility; and damaged two ISIS supply routes.” It later added that “Additionally, 13 strikes were conducted in Syria and Iraq on May 10th that closed within the last 24 hours. Near Raqqah, Syria, seven strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units and destroyed 12 fighting positions, an ISIS headquarters, a command and control node, a supply cache, an ISIS staging area, a tactical vehicle, and a vehicle.”
For May 11th-12th. “Near Raqqah, eight strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed four fighting positions, three VBIEDs, two ISIS oil storage tanks, two ISIS oil stills, two excavators, a front-end loader, an IED, and an ISIS staging area.” It later added that “Additionally, six strikes were conducted in Syria on May 11th that closed within the last 24 hours…. Near Raqqah, five strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed two VBIEDs, a fighting position, a weapons cache, a vehicle; and damaged two ISIS supply routes and a bridge.”

UK Military
  • English
    /
    Original

Thursday 11 May – Typhoons attacked three targets in eastern Syria, as well as a truck-bomb factory north-west of Raqqa. Tornados also struck six times in Mosul…On Thursday 11 May, a pair of Typhoons, armed with Paveway IVs, destroyed a truck-bomb staging area some fifteen miles north-west of Raqqa, while another pair supported the SDF in eastern Syria, hitting a mortar team and two Daesh-held buildings near Al Ulwah. The same day, two flights of Tornados patrolled over Mosul, using Brimstone missiles against two Daesh positions very close to Iraqi troops. A further Paveway IV eliminated a mortar in a courtyard, and three more Paveways cratered roads along which Daesh might have tried to move truck-bombs along.’

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (18) [ collapse]