Geolocation
Airwars assessment
An August 2017 Amnesty International report stated that a civilian casualty incident occurred in Raqqa on June 8th–9th, killing 6 civilians including 1 or more children and 2 women.
Mohammed, who also witnessed the airstrike mentioned in incident S823c, described to Amnesty’s field researchers that another bombardment struck a tent near a biscuits bakery. The baker, who Mohammed identified as “Mr Sufi“, and his family were killed in the strike – although he did not specify how many members of the family were killed. Zahra, one of the employees of the bakery, was also killed along with her husband and another neighbour. “They were at the bakery working, and when the shelling started nearby, they ran to the tent. They went there because it was a little further away from the built-up area and they thought it would be safer, but the tent was shelled and they were killed right there”, Mohammed said to the Amnesty’s field researchers.
The report did not identify the culprit.
In their June 2020 civilian casualty report, the US-led Coalition assessed reports that they were responsible for civilian harm in this strike as “non-credible”, stating that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area at that time.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (2)
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (1) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
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Imagery of the bakery, before and after it was shelled (via Amnesty)
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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June 8, 2017, in Raqqah, Syria, via Airwars report. After a review of all available records it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties. 3106/CS941 37SEV011782
Original strike reports
For June 7th-8th: “Near Raqqah, 22 strikes engaged 16 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 12 fighting positions, three vehicles, two ISIS staging areas, an ISIS excavator, an ISIS weapons cache, and an ISIS training camp.” It also added that “On June 7, near Raqqah, Syria, one strike destroyed six fighting positions and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.” And that “On June 7, near Raqqah, Syria, one strike destroyed an ISIS minefield.”
For June 8th-9th, the Coalition reported: “Near Raqqah, nine strikes engaged eight ISIS tactical units and destroyed six fighting positions, three vehicles and a mortar system.