Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Between five and eight non-combatants died in a casualty event in Hawi al Hawa, local media said – though reports were conflicted as to whether the cause of death was a Coalition airstrike or artillery shelling by the US or SDF.
According to the Smart News Agency, “Coalition forces raided the village of Hawi al-Hawa, which is under IS control, west of the city, killing eight civilians, including three children and their mother, and wounding six others. They were taken to a field hospital in al-Raqqa, according to another source.”
But Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently reported that artillery had targeted Hawi al Hawa village killing a displaced family. It didn’t say who was responsible. Aljazeera blamed shelling by the SDF for the death of a family of five.
Baladna and Q_Alenzy didn’t report civilian casualties but said that five members of IS died in a Coalition strike. According to Q_Alenzy, it targeted the home of Abdullah Al Abbas.
In June 2019 the Coalition announced that it had assessed this allegation of civilian harm to be non-credible, noting “After a review of all available strike records it was determined that, more likely than not, civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition strike.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (10) [ 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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Jun. 3, 2017, near Raqqa, Syria, via Airwars report. After a review of all available strike records it was determined that, more likely than not, civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition strike.
Original strike reports
For June 2nd-June 3rd the Coalition reported: “Near Raqqah, 10 strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units and destroyed 12 vehicles, five fighting positions, four tactical vehicles, two VBIEDs and an ammunition cache.” It also later added that on June 2nd “Near Raqqah, Syria, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed three fighting positions.”
For June 3rd-4th, the Coalition reported: "Near Raqqah, 16 strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units; destroyed 17 fighting positions, three vehicles, and an ISIS excavator; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit." It added that for June 3rd, the Coalition reported: "Near Raqqah, Syria, three strikes engaged six ISIS tactical units, destroyed 10 fighting positions, and damaged one ISIS-held building."