Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Between 12 and 30 civilians – mostly women – were killed when alleged Coalition airstrikes hit al A’Keirshi village in the countryside of Raqqa, according to local media.
The victims were reportedly farm workers who were travelling in three cars to their place of work when they were struck by the air raid.
Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently and Euphrates Post, which provided the most extensive coverage of the incident, both reported that 22 people were killed.
According to Alhasaka Alarabea, at least 20 people died, while Q_Alenzy referred to the victims as “cotton workers”, reporting that they were returning from work when their cars were struck.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Syran Network for Human Rights both out the death toll lower, at at least 12. At least eight others were reported wounded by RBSS.
Al Hasaka Rasd reported that “20 female agricultural workers” died in the Coalition strike, while the Smart News Network – citing Reuters – put the death toll as high as 30, of which it said 22 were women.
Euphrates Post listed two female internally displaced people in addition to the victims mentioned below.
RBSS named one of the victims (and provided a picture) as:
Nawwaf Mohammed Al Turki al Sawa’an [M] – Al Ragga Truth also named him, saying he died when Coalition planes targeted his motorbike.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (3)
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of `Ukayrishah (عكيرشي), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.85817, 39.126332. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (25) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
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Nawwaf Mohammad Al Turki al Sawa’an, killed in an alleged Coalition airstrike on Al A'keirshi, May 14th (via RBSS)
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 Raqqah, five strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions, a front-end loader, an ISIS crane, and a house-born improvised explosive device.”