In its monthly civilian casualty report, Airwars documented at least 301 civilians killed by the Coalition across Iraq and Syria during the month of October – a 12 percent decrease from the month of September, though still higher than any month prior to March 2017.
After launching an offensive last week, Iraqi forces, back by Coalition airstrikes, captured the town of Rawa on Friday.
Iraqi forces launched an offensive on November 11 to retake Rawa, where an estimated 10,000 civilians remain under Islamic State control. Rawa is the last Iraqi town remaining under Islamic State control, and Iraqi commanders expect the area to be retaken quickly – within a matter of days.
On Friday, Prime Minister al-Abadi announced the recapture of al Qaim, leaving only the town of Rawa and a few pockets of territory in western Anbar under Islamic State control in Iraq. The International Organization for Migration estimates that 65,000 people have fled western Anbar since January, including more than 19,000 since September 20.
Iraqi forces launched an offensive on Thursday to retake Rawa and al-Qaim in western Anbar. The International Organization for Migration estimates that 65,000 people have fled western Anbar since January, including more than 10,000 since the beginning of October.
Local monitors estimate that at least 1,800 civilians were killed during the Raqqa offensive. The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported a civilian death toll of 1,854, including 1,058 killed in Coalition airstrikes.
Coalition airstrikes intensified ahead of the final assault, with seventy-five strikes hitting Raqqa between October 7 and 8. Despite a decrease in Coalition airstrikes on October 9 with zero reported strikes and on October 10 with five reported strikes, intensified airstrikes on Raqqa continued on October 11. The Coalition’s air raids have taken a severe toll on civilians in Raqqa.
In Afghanistan, the U.S. dropped more bombs and missiles in September than in any other month for nearly seven years; already in 2017, the U.S. has carried out more airstrikes than during 2015 and 2016 combined.
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