Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS275

Incident date

July 20, 2016

Location

منبج, Manbij, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.5236393, 37.9353458 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

A report on August 5th 2016 by local blogger Hathifa al Yaman Abu al Majd claimed that approximately 15 civilians had died in a Coalition strike two weeks earlier, with their bodies still buried under rubble.

American Alliance planes – around 15 days ago –  committed a massacre against three families opposite al Fatah mosque near the Net Facebook shop. The number of martyrs is estimated at 15 martyrs, who are still until this moment under the rubble. They are the family of Hamoudi Abu Said and his neighbours. They were targeted at night with several rockets by the planes. The homes are traditional Arab homes on the Aleppo road near the Disho building, al Fatah mosque and Facebook Net shop. And the information we received is scarce because of the lack of communication. Please circular because the families are still under the rubble, and we need a bulldozer to remove the rubble and exhume the bodies.”

One of the comments below the blog post post adds the family names of Abu OmarMr. Othman and Abu Osama. A comment on the Manbij Mother of All the World report also notes claims “this is true and the family are our relatives.” However, another man calling himself Mahmoud Emawsa claims: ‘My house is near Al Fatah mosque and nothing is going on.  Verify the news before you publish.”

In the second of their March 2020 civilian casualty reports, 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.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (1)

15 members of the family of Hamoudi Abu Said

The victims were named as:

Name unknown
Age unknown

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    15
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (2) [ collapse]

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.
  • Reason for non-credible assessment
    No Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area
  • Civilian deaths conceded
    None
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    None
  • MGRS coordinate
    37SDA046425
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Mar 25, 2020
  • July 20, 2016, in Manbij, Syria, via Airwars report. After a review of all available records it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties. 3018/CS275 37SDA046425

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For July 20th-21st, the Coalition reported that “Near Manbij, five strikes struck five separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed seven ISIL fighting positions.”

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    15
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (2) [ collapse]