Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Three named civilians died in an airstrike on a home in Hweika, according to local media. No sources pointed directly at the Coalition, with the majority referring to unidentified “warplanes.” Other reports, however, attributed the event to the Assad regime or Russia.
The Euphrates Post reported the death of two civilians following a raid by an unidentified warplane on their home in Hweika.
However, Raqqa Post blamed a raid by the regime for the death of two children. Sharqiya also said that the regime was responsible, naming the child Thaer al-Tahtouh as killed in a strike on a civilian home.
But other sources – Amer Hweidi, Enab Baladi, JisirTV, RFS – pointed towards Russia, again saying that two children died in the strike.
Two further victims were named.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (2)
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (15) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
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Yusuf Thaer al-Tahtouh, killed in an airstrike on Hweika, May 13th (via Euphrates Post)
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.
Original strike reports
For May 12th-13th, the Coalition reported: “Near Dayr Az Zawr, six strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed 16 ISIS oil tankers, two ISIS oil processing equipment, two fighting positions, and a vehicle.”