Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Two civilians were killed and four were injured – in addition to two members of ISIL – in alleged Coalition airstrikes in Ali Al Ghanem village, 50km east of Raqqa, according to local reports.
Two sources, Draas News Agency and Smart News Agency, reported that the Coalition was responsible. Meanwhile, the remainder of the sources reported that the deaths were a result of airstrikes, but did not make any assertions about who was responsible.
Smart News Agency reported that four people were injured in addition to two members of ISIL.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Ali Al Ghanem (علي الغانم), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.773056, 39.4025. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (5) [ collapse]
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 20th-21st, the Coalition reported: “Near Raqqah, five strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed six fighting positions, two vehicles, an ISIS staging area and a construction vehicle.” It also later reported that additionally on May 20th “Near Raqqah, Syria, one strikes destroyed an ISIS headquarters and an ISIS staging area.”
For May 21st-22nd, the Coalition reported:" Near Raqqah, 13 strikes [1 British?] engaged 12 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 11 fighting positions, nine vehicles, two supply caches, a mortar system, an ISIS headquarters; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit."
"Sunday 21 May – Typhoons destroyed a weapons stockpile on the outskirts of Raqqa, Tornados dealt with a sniper and a heavy machine-gun in Mosul… The latter hit a further pair of targets in Mosul on Sunday 21 May, eliminating a sniper and a heavy machine-gun team. On the eastern outskirts of Raqqah, Typhoons destroyed a weapons stockpile."