Airwars assessment
According to Al Raqqa Truth, “Abdel Rahman Najjar was martyred while being displaced in coalition raids on Sahlat al Banat yesterday. A number of people were injured in his family. They are from al Mashlab neighbourhood.”
The victim was also named by Raqqa Maydaniya, who blamed the Coalition for his death.
Osama Abdallah posted confirmation of the death of his grandfather, Abdel Rahman Najjar, on Facebook: “After my grandfather Abdel Rahman al Najjar Abou Ahmad was martyred in the coalition raid on Sahlat al Banat village in Raqqa, my cousins 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.”
In an August Amnesty report, field researchers interviewed relatives of Abdel Rahman Najjar who stated that “At least six building were hit, five houses and the driving school. When the firing began everyone ran from the houses and into the fields.” The report confirms the death of “Abd al-Rahman al-Abdulla”, aged 72, as well as two other boys who were already mentioned in incident S734a.
It is important to note that in the the interview, the interviewee states that the strike took place around 5pm on May 21st. However, most local sources had already reported the incident before that date.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (7) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
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Abdel Rahman Najjar, killed in an alleged Coalition raid on Sahlat al Banat, May 19th (via Al Ragga Truth)
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 18th-19th, the Coalition reported: “Near Raqqah, eight strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed four fighting positions, two tunnels, two VBIED facilities, a mortar system, a vehicle, a supply cache, an ISIS headquarters, a weapons cache, and a tactical vehicle; and damaged three fighting positions.” It was additionally reported that on May 18th “Near Raqqah, Syria, two strikes destroyed an ISIS headquarters, an ISIS-held building and an ISIS recruiting station.”
For May 19th-20th, the Coalition reported: "Near Raqqah, three strikes [1 British?] engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions and a heavy machine gun."
"Friday 19 May – Tornados struck seven Daesh targets in Mosul, whilst Typhoons bombed a group of extremists east of Raqqah…The following day [May 19th] , Tornados provided further support to the Iraqi ground forces, despite very challenging conditions as a dust storm raged. Again, a mixture of Brimstones and Paveway IVs were used to engage seven Daesh positions within the city, including a sniper team and a mortar, despite the Iraqi forces being extremely close to the targets on occasion. In Syria, Typhoons supported the SDF and bombed a group of terrorists caught in the open a few miles to the east of Raqqah."