Geolocation
Airwars assessment
A husband, wife and two daughters were killed and another daughter was critically wounded in an alleged Coalition airstrike on Raqqa, according to local sources.
All sources but one pointed towards the Coalition – however, Palmyra Media Center was alone in blaming the regime and reported that the event occurred in Deir Ezzor.
The Violations Documentation Center in Syria and Palmyra Coordination Committee said that the family were struck in Raqqa city and attributed the event to the Coalition.
According to the Palmyra Media Center, the orphaned daughter remains in intensive care and her condition remained critical.
Four victims from Palmyra were named by the Violations Documentation Center.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (4)
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the city of Ar Raqqah OR Deir Ezzor (الرقة), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.9505639, 39.0094148. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (4) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ 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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The report contains insufficient information of the time location and details to assess its credibility.
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."