{"id":41629,"date":"2017-08-29T19:46:39","date_gmt":"2017-08-29T19:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/news_and_analysis\/raqqa-denials\/"},"modified":"2018-11-29T05:11:25","modified_gmt":"2018-11-29T05:11:25","slug":"raqqa-denials","status":"publish","type":"news_and_analysis","link":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/news\/raqqa-denials\/","title":{"rendered":"Civilian deaths mount in Raqqa amid Coalition denials"},"content":{"rendered":"

The number of civilians killed by the US-led coalition assault on the Islamic State\u2019s de facto capital in Syria is mounting \u2013 but the coalition\u2019s commanding general has cast doubt on the toll his forces are inflicting on innocents there. Airwars currently assesses that 1,700 or more civilians have likely been killed by U.S.-led air and artillery strikes in Raqqa governorate since March. A minimum of 860 civilians, including 150 children, are credibly reported to have been killed in Raqqa since the official start of operations to capture the city on June 6th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Despite these findings, and corroborating evidence from UN bodies and nongovernmental organizations, Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend has described reports of such claims of large scale civilian death as hyperbole. In one instance the General \u00a0prematurely called allegations not credible even before the coalition had completed its own investigation.<\/p>\n

Citing an estimated 20,000 civilians who remain trapped in Raqqa, UN humanitarian advisor Jan Egeland\u00a0asked\u00a0last week<\/a><\/span> for consideration of a humanitarian pause in the city, similar to the respites organized last year in eastern Aleppo, where regime forces were fighting rebels. Despite a number of major investigations into the civilian death toll in Raqqa by multiple human rights organizations in recent months, there is no sign either side is considering any sort of pause.<\/p>\n

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The aftermath of an alleged Coalition raid raqqa\u2019s Bedo neighbourhood, Aug 21st (via RBSS)<\/p><\/div>\n

In a report released Aug. 24, the same day Egeland made his appeal, Amnesty International<\/a>\u00a0described<\/span><\/span>\u00a0the hell facing civilians, including thousands of children, at Raqqa. Survivors who fled the city said that Islamic State fighters have \u201cbeen laying landmines and booby traps along exit routes, setting up checkpoints around the city to restrict movement, and shooting at those trying to sneak out.\u201d But the report also described a \u201cconstant barrage of artillery strikes and airstrikes\u201d by the coalition that further restricts movement, and has injured and killed hundreds of people.<\/p>\n

Witnesses told of how shells ripped through civilian homes, and killed those seeking to escape. \u201cArtillery shells are hitting everywhere, entire streets,\u201d one witness said. \u201cIt is indiscriminate shelling and kills a lot of civilians.\u201d (Russian air raids in support of pro-regime forces have also left many civilians dead south of the city.)<\/p>\n

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Yasser Abbas Hussein al-Alo, killed in an alleged Coalition strike on Raqqa, Aug 2nd (via Ahmad Al Shbli)<\/p><\/div>\n

Throughout operations to capture Mosul and Raqqa, the coalition has argued that defeating the terrorist group quickly would ultimately save more lives. After Egeland\u2019s comments, the coalition quickly tamped down expectations that the tempo of fighting might slow in Raqqa or anywhere else.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny pause in operations will only give ISIS more time to build up their defences and thus put more civilians in harm\u2019s way,\u201d said coalition spokesman Col. Joseph Scrocca. \u201cWhat is more, it will further reinforce ISIS\u2019s tactic of using civilians as human shields.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Townsend, the coalition forces’ commander, has gone further. He has suggested on several occasions that civilian death tolls are exaggerated \u2014 no matter how well investigated they may be.<\/p>\n

In June, after a UN commission of inquiry warned that civilian casualties around Raqqa were already \u201cstaggering,\u201d Townsend took issue with their phrasing, calling it \u201chyperbolic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShow me some evidence of that,\u201d he\u00a0told\u00a0the BBC<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 22, Townsend again played down civilian deaths, this time at a press conference with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis in Baghdad.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably logical to assume that there has been some increase in the civilian casualties, because our operations have increased in intensity there,\u201d said Townsend, when asked by a reporter about the uptick in deaths. \u201cI would ask someone to show me hard information that says that civilian casualties have increased in Raqqa to some significant degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such hard information is freely available from multiple sources. Large numbers of civilian casualties from coalition actions have been reported in local outlets and by Syrian monitoring organizations since well before the official start of operations inside Raqqa itself. In the three months leading up to June, Airwars researchers estimate that more than 700 civilians were likely killed by coalition strikes as the Syrian Democratic Forces surrounded the city. Airwars currently assesses that more than 5,100 civilians have likely been killed in coalition actions in both Iraq and Syria since 2014.<\/p>\n

These estimates are only compiled from reporting rated as \u201cfair\u201d by Airwars researchers. This classification requires there to be two or more reliable sources indicating civilian casualties and citing the coalition as having launched the strike, no conflicting attribution (for instance, the presence of Russian or regime strikes), and acknowledgement by the coalition that it did launch strikes in the vicinity on that day. Among accounts monitored by Airwars, more than 1,900 civilian deaths in Raqqa have been blamed on the coalition since June 6, but less than 40 percent was considered \u201cfair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reports of the damage wrought by coalition strikes have been corroborated by investigators on the ground. Researchers from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have recently visited the cities, towns, and camps around Raqqa, \u00a0and interviewed survivors who all tell similar stories of terrifying air and artillery strikes, as well as Islamic State actions. The UN Commission of Inquiry for Syria has also been able to speak with survivors and witnesses to a number of strikes in the area.<\/p>\n

One reason for the disconnect between public allegations and military understanding is the pace of official investigations. The coalition itself has so far finished examining just a fraction of civilian casualty allegations reported in Raqqa since the assault began. Since the\u00a0latest coalition monthly casualty report<\/a><\/span>\u00a0was published this month, only three incidents in Raqqa dating to after June 6th\u00a0had been assessed by the U.S.-led alliance. Another 13 allegations are pending review. \u00a0Airwars has informed the coalition of 101 individual alleged incidents at Raqqa for June alone.<\/p>\n

Airwars monitoring shows that the civilian death toll in Raqqa is closely linked to the intensity of the assault. Put simply: When fewer coalition bombs fall, fewer civilians are killed. In July, for example, estimated civilian deaths from coalition strikes fell in Raqqa by about 33 percent compared with June. Munitions fired at the city by the coalition also fell by almost exactly the same amount \u2013 32 percent.<\/p>\n

Children in particular are\u00a0suffering\u00a0in Raqqa<\/a>.<\/span> Though some civilians are able to bribe their way out of the city, local monitors like the Syrian Network for Human Rights say children are often marooned with their families. According to UNICEF, thousands remain trapped.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith no access for humanitarian agencies, the city is completely cut off from lifesaving assistance,\u201d said Fran Equiza, the UNICEF representative in Syria. \u201cChildren and families have little or no safe water while food supplies are running out fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least 150 children have credibly been reported killed at Raqqa since June, with more\u00a0casualties reported every week by groups like\u00a0Raqqa is Being Slaughtered\u00a0Silently<\/span><\/a>. Many of them are named, with\u00a0photographs posted on social media by surviving family members. Jana al-Hariri, a baby girl, was reportedly killed along with four family members in a raid on July 6; on Aug. 2, one-year old Saad al-Shabshol,\u00a0was killed<\/a><\/span>, also along with family members; And on Aug. 17, four children from the al-Sayer family were reported killed in an alleged coalition strike. Photographs\u00a0showed them together<\/a><\/span>\u00a0in happier times — the youngest no more than a baby.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/samueloakford\/status\/898683685330759681<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/samueloakford\/status\/898682416860090368<\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, Gen. Townsend has been dismissive of deaths he says are not as numerous as widely reported, and in any case unavoidable. In one instance, the general\u2019s comments have preceded the conclusion of the coalition\u2019s own investigations into reported civilian casualty incidents, raising the possibility that their outcome might be influenced. After a coalition raid hit a school building reportedly sheltering displaced families near Raqqa on March 21, Townsend said he thought \u201cthat was a clean strike.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy initial read is: not credible,\u201d he told reporters on March 28, using the official coalition term for a strike determined to not have killed civilians. Investigators with the UN Commission of Inquiry for Syria later determined that the strike may in fact have been one of the deadliest of the air campaign for civilians. The coalition ultimately concluded that no civilians were killed.<\/p>\n

In the most serious criticism of the coalition commander to date, Townsend has been accused by Amnesty International of unlawful action after he recently boasted of the coalition\u2019s deadly firepower at Raqqa. \u00a0In early July, the general\u00a0told<\/span>\u00a0<\/a>a reporter from the\u00a0New York Times that \u201cwe shoot every boat we find\u201d on the Euphrates River. \u00a0\u201cIf you want to get out of Raqqa right now, you\u2019ve got to build a poncho raft,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

According to local reports, civilians have frequently been killed as they try to escape the city by river, or fetch water from it to drink. In early July, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently\u00a0reported the deaths of\u00a0more than two dozen people<\/span>\u00a0<\/a>who were attempting to reach the Euphrates or wells nearby. In its report, Amnesty profiled a 15-year old boy, Mohamed Nour, who attempted to flee the city with a friend in order to avoid being forcibly conscripted by the Islamic State. As they attempted to cross the Euphrates, a suspected coalition strike hit their boat, killing both children and others on board.<\/p>\n

\u201cLt. General Townsend\u2019s statement appears not to take into account the difficulties civilians face in trying to escape the city, as by then it was well known that civilians wanting to flee the city had few options but to cross the river,\u201d Amnesty\u00a0noted<\/span>\u00a0<\/a>in its report. \u201cStrikes on \u2018every boat\u2019 crossing the river on the assumption that every boat carries IS fighters and weapons, without verifying whether that was indeed the case on each separate occasion, are indiscriminate, and as such unlawful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amnesty researcher Ben Walsby, who co-authored the group\u2019s Raqqa report, told Airwars that virtually everyone they spoke with had fled across the Euphrates to escape Islamic State-held areas.<\/p>\n

Gen. Townsend\u2019s latest comments have drawn criticism from local groups monitoring the civilian toll. The Syrian Network for Human Rights, which estimates that at least 800 civilians have been killed by coalition operations since June 5,\u00a0said\u00a0it would provide<\/a><\/span> the names of those killed to Townsend if he liked. The people behind Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, which has documented the Islamic State\u2019s brutalities in the city for years,\u00a0tweeted<\/a><\/span>\u00a0that Townsend\u2019s comments \u201creminds me of Syrian regime lies same lies.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. officials have gone to great lengths to tout their care in avoiding civilian casualties. Now, however, those efforts threaten to be undermined by the Raqqa campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been no military in the world\u2019s history that has paid more attention to limiting civilian casualties and the deaths of innocents on the battlefield than the coalition military,\u201d Mattis said while sitting next to Townsend during the Baghdad press conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not the perfect guys,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cWe can make a mistake, and in this kind of warfare, tragedy will happen. But we are the good guys, and the innocent people on the battlefield know the difference.\u201d Many of those lucky enough to escape Raqqa told Walsby and his colleagues at Amnesty very different stories.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor all the technology, the military tactics belong in another century,\u201d he told Airwars. \u201cThere is no place for firing battlefield weapons into populated cities in the 21 st century, and this in the future will be looked back on as pretty barbaric.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19836,"template":"","tags":[20,24,22,9,15,25,18,31,44,5,13,11,12,10,21,26,86,105,4],"country":[246],"belligerent":[249],"authors":[568],"class_list":["post-41629","news_and_analysis","type-news_and_analysis","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-accountabilty","tag-airstrikes","tag-airwars","tag-bombing","tag-centcom","tag-civilian-casualties","tag-civilian-combatant","tag-civilians","tag-cjtfoir","tag-coalition","tag-daesh","tag-isil","tag-isis","tag-islamic-state","tag-monitoring","tag-non-combatants","tag-raqqa","tag-sdf","tag-syria","country-syria","belligerent-coalition","authors-samuel-oakford"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_and_analysis\/41629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_and_analysis"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news_and_analysis"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41629"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=41629"},{"taxonomy":"belligerent","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/belligerent?post=41629"},{"taxonomy":"authors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/authors?post=41629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}