Two men, Mohammad al-Jadou and Hassanein Awad al-Jassim, were reported killed by a PKK/YPG militia patrol or “international coalition” drone strike in the al-Rusafa desert on 9 January, 2025. While multiple sources reported both men were herders, al-Jadou’s civilian status is classified as contested.

Mohammed al-Jadou, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), was a “prominent member” of the Islamic State. While this was echoed by others sources, Facebook, user “Morals” denied charges of militancy. The post alleged that statements of ISIS membership were publicised to smear civilians who opposed PKK activity. The claims were “denied and baseless,” and an apparent furthering of commonplace discrediting: “Al-Arabiya and its Kurdish correspondents and Rami Abdul Rahman Observatory are still lying to the Syrian people and accusing any civilian person of being a Daesh [ISIS] member.” The men killed, the post claimed, were simply “civilian shepherds from the Al-Wahb tribe.” Twitter/X user DeirEzzore stared that al-Jadou was from al-Mansoura, a town in the countryside west of the Syrian city of Raqqa. This user claimed al-Jadou was “trying to deliver water to a herd of sheep” when his car was struck, with multiple sources referring to it as a “four-wheel-drive vehicle”.

Hassanein Awad al-Jassim died the following day from wounds sustained in the strike. Originally from Al-Tabqa, also west of Raqqa, al-Jassim was reported to be a herder. While some sources alleged al-Jadou was an ISIS member, none reported this of al-Jassim, saying only that he was a friend of al-Jadou’s. A photograph was shared of al-Jassim; he wears a keffiyeh wrapped around his head and is wearing a white thawb.

Facebook user Al-Wahab occasions shared a video of the scorched vehicle.

A white truck, it had been burned in the strike. While SOHR and Facebook users Roj, Hafal and Siwer reported that the deaths were caused by a “drone belonging to the international coalition,” all other sources pointed to a “PKK/YPG militia patrol” or “Qasd militia” strike, with some sources specifying “bullets”. Multiple sources alleged that the men were struck “near an oil well.”