Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1702 RS2813

Incident date

December 25, 2017

Location

غرانيج, Granij, Deir Ezzor, Syria

Geolocation

34.776667, 40.73 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Ten named civilians died and “a large number more” were injured in an alleged airstrike on Granij, according to local media. One sources blamed Russia, while the rest attributed blame to the US-led Coalition.

According to Deir Ezzor 24, six non-combatants died when the Coalition “attacked the house of Elias Khader Al-Abdullah in the Al-Samra neighbourhood of the town of Granij. The deaths occurred during a raid targeting a house which IS were in. It led to the martyrdom of Elias and the death of many members of the organisation [ISIS].”

The source said that the death count was likely to rise due to “a large number of wounded”, adding that “the bombing caused the complete destruction of many houses”.

Step News Agency, also blaming the Coalition, reported that “the residents of the neighbourhood came to the aid of women who were wounded in the raid. The plane then returned and targeted the ambulance, killing all of them and wounding two others. The search continues under the rubble of survivors.”

VDC-SY was the only source that blamed Russian troops.

The incident was first reported on December 25, 2017 at 3:00 am by .

The victims were named as:

Family members (3)

Adult female killed
Adult female killed

The victims were named as:

Age unknown killed
Age unknown killed
Age unknown female killed
Age unknown female killed
Age unknown male killed
Age unknown male killed
Age unknown male killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the neighbourhood of Al-Samra (السمرة) in the town of Granij (غرانيج). Due to limited information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the exact location of the neighbourhood but believe it is in the Wadi Al-Samra area, for which the coordinates are: 34.784201, 40.728679. The general location of Granij (غرانيج) is at the following coordinates: 34.776667, 40.73

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    8 – 10
  • (1 child1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    10
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    US-led Coalition, Russian Military

Sources (12) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • The site of the alleged Coalition strike on Granij, Dec 25th (via Deirezzor24)

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

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Oct 26, 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

For December 24th-25th, the Coalition reported: ” Near Abu Kamal, four strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed a heavy machine gun and three ISIS vehicles.”

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

Russian Military

The Russian Ministry of Defence announced being active in unspecified parts of Syria until December 11th, 2017.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    8 – 10
  • (1 child1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    10
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    US-led Coalition, Russian Military

Sources (12) [ collapse]