(Previous Incident Codes: R635S172aRS720)

At least two civilians including a girl and a woman died in airstrikes on the town of Khusham. While the majority of the sources allege that this was a Coalition incident, other reports say Russia was responsible.

According to Free Deir Ezzor, Russian raids targeting oil fields in Khusham killed two civilians displaced from Qaryatain, Homs: “Abir Mohamamd al Farrah and the child Shaymaa Hassan al Ammar“. It claimed that the death toll had reached 20, including eight children – though no other sources alleged this tally. A tweet by With God’s Help We Will Triumph and Al Qaryatain Round the Clock also blamed Russia.

However, according to a tweet by Rania Daughter of Douma, these two people died in an alleged Coalition raid. Other sources also alleged that the Coalition was responsible. These included Homs Deir Ba’alba and Syria Rebels Gathering. Hassan Kanjo, self-described as an independent journalist, reported “a very violent bombing the extent of which has never been seen before in the city of Deir Ezzor by coalition planes“, while Aletihad Press said that Coalition warplanes carried out several raids killing “a number of civilians” including the six-year-old girl. The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that “two civilians from the province of Homs were killed in a strike on the city of Deir Ezzor” – and said that the Coalition carried out the raid.

Homs Media Center and SYRCU were among other sources blaming the Coalition, however, Shouqi Sabra said that Russia was responsible.

In their February 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.