(Previous Incident Code: S734a)

An August 2017 Amnesty International report documented the death of three civilians as a result of three strikes on their one-storey house in Sahlat al Banat on the evening of May 18th.

Amnesty field researchers interviewed Hassan, a family member of the victims. “This strike killed the two boys as they were coming back into the house [having brought the car for their grandmother]. My brother was killed inside one of the rooms of the house. His body is still under the rubble”, he stated to the organization’s interviewers.

According to Hassan, two planes and two helicopters were flying above the village, targeting an ISIS vehicle that would wait next to civilian houses and fire in the air. According to the interviewee, the strikes never hit the vehicle: “They [the planes] hit many houses but they didn’t even hit the vehicle. It moved too quickly and they would strike five minutes too late.”

Osama Abdallah, who posted on the death of his grandfather that was killed in another raid of strikes on Sahlat al Banat on May 19th [S738], also made mention of his two cousins who “left on Thursday 18/5/2017 looking for a car to leave al Mashlab village in Raqqa. We haven’t heard anything from them since. The first is Izzedin Mohammad Abdallah al Najjar and the second is Abdel Rahman Ahmad Abdel Rahman Abdallah al Najjar. I call on all my friends in Raqqa and the surrounding area if anyone sees them or hears anything about them please let us know. Many thanks.”

One family, which was interviewed separate from Hassan, confirmed to the Amnesty researchers that Abd-al-Rahman Ahmed al-Abdulla, aged 20, and Ezzeldine Mohamed, aged 19, were killed in the multi-day raids, as well as Osama’s grandfather, Abd- al-Rahman al-Abdulla, aged 72.

Sources: Osama Abdallah [Arabic], [Archived], Amnesty International

Quality of reporting: Contested – unclear whether Coalition or SDF is responsible

Coalition position:

Summary: Coalition forces deliberately bombed pro-regime forces near At Tanf base in southern Syria.

In a statement, the Coalition said the forces “advanced will inside an established de-confliction zone northwest of At Tanf, Syria May 18” and posed “a threat to U.S. and partner forces at At Tanf.”

There were no reports of civilian casualties.