Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Airstrikes, possibly carried out by Turkish forces, killed one civilian according to one local report. Others referred only to violent clashes between non state actors.
Smart News Agency reported that “international Coalition aircraft” targeting ISIS in Al Tweihina which it said killed one civilian and two members of the terror group. However, the report identified the village as being located in Raqqa governorate.
The Syrian Observatory reported instead that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) attacked “Turkish soldiers” in the vicinity of Al Tweihina. The Observatory added that “different sources confirmed to SOHR that a number of Turkish soldiers were killed” though it may have been referencing rebels supported by Turkey. It did however allude to “aerial reconnaissance aircraft” in the area, possibly belonging to Turkey.
Tal Abiyad posted pictures and video of an armoured vehicle that it said was captured from the “al Sham Front.” (update from December 2018, this video is no longer available to view online.)
Daily Sabah meanwhile cited the Turkish military and reported that “FSA fighters with the support of the Turkish military continued to attack” Kurdish forces in the area. The report cited a number of airstrikes.
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.
Summary
Sources (7) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]
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A map highlighting that the village is in the Aleppo countryside not Raqqa countryside. It is in the bottom left corner of the area highlighted in light blue. (via Airwas researcher)
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An armoured vehicle reportedly captured by SDF fighters from the “al Sham Front.” (via Tal Abiyad News)
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Al Tweihina (الطويحينة), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.443611, 37.248056. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
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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Oct. 22, 2016, in Tweihina, 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. 3072/CS345 37SCA429345
Original strike reports
For October 21st-22nd, the Coalition reported “Near Washiyah, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.” For October 22nd-23rd, the Coalition reported “Near Mar’a, one strike destroyed an ISIL artillery system.”