Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1331

Incident date

August 4, 2017

Location

ﻗﺮﻳﺔ ﺍﻟﺤﻤﺎﺩﻱ , Al Hammadi, Al Hassakah, Syria

Geolocation

35.99523, 41.138306 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Two named children died in an alleged Coalition airstrike on a school in the village of al Hammadi in the al Shadadi countryside, according to local media.

Multiple sources reported that the Haddaj Sharqi school was struck by the Coalition, killing two children.

The incident was first reported on August 4, 2017 at 4:57 pm by مرصد الحسكة @AlhasakaArabea on Facebook.

The victims were named as:

Khaled Mohammed Al-Aziz
4 years old male killed
Asmaa Ismail Aziz
15 years old female killed

Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention Haddaj Sharqi (East) school (ﻣﺪﺭﺳﺔﻫﺪﺍﺝﺷﺮﻗﻲ), al Hammadi village (ﻗﺮﻳﺔﺍﻟﺤﻤﺎﺩﻱ ) in al Shadadi (ﺍﻟﺸﺪﺍﺩﻱ ) countryside near the Iraqi border, Al-Hasakah governorate. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the coordinates of either al Hammadi village (ﻗﺮﻳﺔﺍﻟﺤﻤﺎﺩﻱ) or the school. There are three buildings labeled as schools on Wikimapia east of Haddaj village and near the Iraq/Syria border, but it is unclear if any of these are the school that was reported to have been targeted. The coordinates for these three schools are: 36.017222, 41.207778; 35.977500, 41.247222; and 35.961667, 41.203889. We did locate al Shadadi town (ﺍﻟﺸﺪﺍﺩﻱ ), for which the coordinates are: 36.052222, 40.728889, and Haddaj village (حداج), for which the coordinates are: 36.035833, 41.056389.

  • Three possible locations for the school east of the village of Haddaj (حداج) and near the Iraq/Syria border

    Imagery:
    © 2019 Google

Summary

  • Civilian infrastructure
    School
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • (2 children)
  • 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 (9) [ collapse]

CJTF–OIR Declassified Assessment and Press Release

Attached to this civilian harm incident is a provisional reconciliation of the Pentagon's declassified assessment of this civilian harm allegation, based on matching date and locational information.

The declassified documents were obtained by Azmat Khan and the New York Times through Freedom of Information requests and lawsuits filed since March 2017, and are included alongside the corresponding press release published by the Pentagon. Airwars is currently analysing the contents of each file, and will update our own assessments accordingly.

Declassified Assessment Press Release

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
  • Stated location
    near Al Hammadi, Syria
    Nearest population center
  • Location accuracy
    100 m
  • MGRS coordinate
    37SFV927855
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • May 31, 2018
  • After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area that correspond to the report of civilian casualties.

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

“On Aug. 4, near Al Shadaddi, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a command and control node.”

Media
from belligerent (1) [ collapse]

  • For August 3rd-9th, France report 1 strike in Iraq and 1 in Syria, along with 9 artillery strikes in Mosul. (via EtatMajorFR)

Summary

  • Civilian infrastructure
    School
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • (2 children)
  • 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 (9) [ collapse]