Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS035

Incident date

December 21, 2014

Location

الباب, Al-Bab, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.3709658, 37.5179666 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Three civilian men were reported killed in an event near the town of Al Bab, after a US aircraft dropped a 500lb bomb on a fleeing ISIL suspect. They were later named by the VDC and Syrian Martyrs.

Social media also reported civilian deaths, with one tweet noting: “At least two civilians martyred in the air strikes conducted by US led Coalition war planes on IS-held Al Bab.” This was accompanied by a graphic photograph apparently showing major damage to the town.

Monitoring site Mugrn News, which also reported two civilian deaths, claimed that both coalition and Assad regime aircraft had been seen in the vicinity of Al Bab on the day, making attribution difficult. And VDC described Fadi al-Kassem being “Martyred during the regime`s army forces rocket shelling.”

However privately, CENTCOM conceded that an American aircraft was responsible for the incident. Following an attack on an ISIL checkpoint a fleeing alleged militant was targeted with a 500lb GBU-49 bomb. According to a report declassified in August 2015, this “re-attack” killed the suspect, damaged a building and also resulted in “2x nearby pax possibly injured.”

A rare full inquiry was ordered into the incident. On July 30th 2015, CENTCOM informed Airwars that this had concluded and found no evidence of civilian casualties: “We have no additional information available to provide at this time. Currently, CENTCOM plans only to release those investigations where the preponderance of evidence supports a finding that Coalition airstrikes resulted in civilian casualties.“ Requests for an expedited release of the report were denied on the grounds that this was not “currently newsworthy.”

 

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Adult male Listed by the VDC killed
Adult male Listed by the VDC killed
Adult male Listed by Syrian Martyrs, reportedly died from injuries sustained in the strikes killed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3
  • (2 children3 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (10) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • Video from Centcom: "A video of an airstrike supporting Operation Inherent Resolve. The video depicts impacts occurring Dec. 21 against three ISIL buildings near Aleppo, Syria."
  • Video posted by Halab news network listing name of dead in Aleppo and its surroundings.

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Non credible / Unsubstantiated
    Insufficient information to assess that, more likely than not, a Coalition strike resulted in civilian casualties.
  • Civilian deaths conceded
    None
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    None

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3
  • (2 children3 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (10) [ collapse]