Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Three adult brothers died and at least one was injured in an alleged Coalition airstrike between the area of the two bridges in Raqqa, according to local media.
Multiple sources named two brothers as killed in the Coalition raid while Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently named an additional third victim.
A joint Amnesty and Airwars’s report from April 2019 “War in Raqqa: Rhetoric versus Reality” reports the death of the three brothers after speaking to eyewitnesses on the ground. Samia, sister to the killed brothers, told Amnesty’s researchers that the strike hit around 6 am, killing Mohannad and Mohammed as they were still asleep. Samia said that the third victim, Sami, was with their mother, who sustained very serious injuries all over her head and body.
It should, however, be noted that sources, besides from Amnesty/Airwars’ research reported different surnames for the three brothers.
Sharqiya Voice reported that “Mohamed Omar Hamdan and his brother Mohannad Omar Hamdan” were killed, and published a photo depicting the same two brothers that Amnesty and Airwars reported.
Moreover, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently reported the death of a “Sami Mohammed “Al Haj Hassan” and published the same photo of Sami as Amnesty’s researchers.
Because of the field research made by Amnesty’s researchers, the Amnesty/Airwars’ reported names are the ones that will be used.
The incident occured at 06:00:00 local time.
The victims were named as:
Family members (3)
Summary
Sources (7) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]
-
Two of the victim brothers, Mohamed and Mohannad, killed in an alleged Coalition strike on Raqqa, June 15th (via Sharqiya Voice)
-
Sami al-Sheikh, victim of the alleged Coalition strikes targeting the area of the two bridges in Raqqa (via Amnesty/Airwars)
-
Mohammad Omar al-Sheikh, victim of the alleged Coalition strikes targeting the area of the two bridges in Raqqa (via Amnesty/Airwars)
-
Mohannad Omar al-Sheikh, victim of the alleged Coalition strikes targeting the area of the two bridges in Raqqa (via Amnesty/Airwars)
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
-
After a review of available information and strike video it was assessed that there is insufficient evidence to find civilians were harmed in this strike.
Original strike reports
For June 14th-15th, the Coalition reported: “Near Raqqah, 11 strikes engaged eight ISIS tactical units; destroyed nine fighting positions, three ISIS boats, and a vehicle; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.”
For June 15th-16th the Coalition reported: “Near Raqqah, 20 strikes engaged 14 ISIS tactical units and a sniper and destroyed nine fighting positions, four vehicles, three mortar systems, two supply caches, two ISIS headquarters, a heavy machine gun, and a home-made explosives factory.” It also additionally reported that “On June 15, near Raqqah, Syria, six strikes destroyed eight fighting positions, an ISIS headquarters, and a tunnel, and suppressed two snipers.” And that “On June 15, near Raqqah, Syria, one strike destroyed six fighting positions, five ISIS staging areas, two command and control nodes, an ISIS headquarters, and a supply cache, and damaged 10 fighting positions and two VBIED facilities.”
or June 14th-20th, 19 strikes were made by French aircraft in Iraq and Syria. Most of them were carried out during the Battle of Mosul, in support of the Iraqi fighters engaged in the fighting to drive ISIL out of its positions in the North of the Medina. The other strikes were carried out in support of the fighting for the capture of Raqqah, and against flows of arms and fighters in Iraq and Syria.
Cette semaine, les aéronefs de l’opération Chammal ont réalisé 34 sorties aériennes dont 31 de reconnaissance armée ou d’appui au sol (CAS) et 3 de recueil de renseignements. 19 frappes ont été réalisées par les avions français en Irak et en Syrie. La majeure partie d’entre elle ont été réalisées dans le cadre de la bataille de Mossoul, en appui des combattants irakiens engagés dans les combats pour chasser Daech de ses positions au Nord de la Médina. Les autres frappes ont été réalisées en appui des combats pour la prise de Raqqah, et contre des flux d’armes et de combattants en Irak et en Syrie.
Thursday 15 June – A Reaper destroyed a terrorist vehicle in eastern Syria. Typhoons struck three targets in Raqqa, while Tornados and Typhoons hit a mortar near Tal Afar and six targets in Mosul…The following day [June 15th], a Reaper remotely piloted aircraft conducted armed reconnaissance in eastern Syria, some 35 miles north-east of Dayr az Zawr, and used a Hellfire missile to destroy a terrorist truck. Two Typhoons also struck three Daesh positions in Raqqa in support of the offensive by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).