Civilian casualties after coalition airstrike on boat near Raqqa, Syria, activists say

UPDATE April 9

A spokesperson for the US-led coalition told Grasswire that it “does not appear to have conducted any strikes on watercraft near Raqqah between 2-6 April,” and that this incident has been referred to its civilian casualty team for assessment.

Local activists said on April 6 that an overnight US-led coalition airstrike on a boat near Raqqa, Syria caused civilian casualties.

Raqqa SL said on Twitter that coalition strikes targeted a boat crossing the Euphrates river in the early hours of the morning.

⁧ #الرقة_تذبح_بصمت ⁩
⁦ #Raqqa ⁩ ⁦ #Syria ⁩ ⁦ #ISIS ⁩ ⁦ #YPG ⁩
The Airstrike Shortly before targeted a boat was crossing Euphrates River .

— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) April 6, 2017

Raqqa24 said that five people including a woman and a child were killed overnight when a boat that was crossing to the west bank of the Euphrates near Raqqa was hit.

سقوط 5 شهداء بينهم امراة وطفل بقصف قاربهم أثناء عبورهم إلى ضفة الفرات الغربية ليل أمس قرب #الرقة#ر24

— Raqqa24 (@24Raqqa) April 6, 2017

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that “warplanes believed to belong to the international coalition bombed after midnight yesterday areas in Al-Raqqah city … SOHR received information about their targeting of a boat while it was crossing the Euphrates River, no information so far about human losses.”

SDF component Jabhat Thuwar al-Raqqa, which is in the area, said on Facebook that coalition aircraft launched four air raids in the early hours targeting ferries on the Euphrates river.

Raqqa SL later said on Facebook that civilians were killed and injured in a raid by coalition aircraft targeting a boat crossing the Euphrates river in the city of Raqqa.

In its air strike report for April 5, Operation Inherent resolve said “two strikes destroyed an ISIS vehicle.”

Around March 17, the coalition dropped leaflets on Raqqa warning people not to use boats.