(Previous Incident Code: S293)

On Thursday, October 6, 2016, one civilian was killed and several others were injured when warplanes bombed Al-Siassah bridge over the Euphrates river in Deir Ez-Zawr, in eastern Syria.

Reports cited both Coalition and Russian forces, although CENTCOM reported the destruction of two supply routes in Deir Ezzor for October 5th-6th.

Sham News Network reported that “Russian planes bombed al Siassah bridge, which leads to the city of Deir Ezzor.” It cited activists who said the raids destroyed part of the bridge, causing cars to fall into the Euphrates river, killing one person and leaving several civilians wounded.

Local sources reported that Subhi al Souweij (also referred to as Subhi al A’kla) was killed in Russian strikes on the bridge. Other reports, including from ARA News and Radio al Kul News, also blamed Russian sorties for the bombing of the bridge, which reportedly had been targeted for several days. ISIL’s media arm Al A’maq published a video of the bridge, showing part of it destroyed. It also attributed the airstrike to Russia, but did not mention any civilian casualties.

However, Step News Agency reported that “warplanes believed to belong to the international Coalition” targeted al-Siassah bridge.

All4Syria blamed yet another party – the syrian regime – for putting the bridge out of service, which it described as a “vital artery” to Deir Ezzor city. Shaam Network described the effect of damage to brigdes crossing the Euphrates, “(t)hese bridges are the only ways for civilians to cross and move between villages and towns in the countryside of Deir Ezzor, and by destroying them, their areas become almost besieged, as it is difficult to cross the Euphrates River, especially in the winter, when the river water overflows and is difficult to overcome.”

Given reported British actions in the area that day, Airwars flagged the incident to the UK’s MoD which said “we can confirm that there was no UK involvement” in the event. However given the limited information given by the MoD on its strikes in Syria that day, Airwars has requested further clarification.