Geolocation
Airwars assessment
In an incident not previously tracked by Airwars, the Coalition announced on March 28th 2018 that it had killed five civilians in an event “near Abu Kamal, Syria”.
According to the official release, ” During a Coalition strike which killed an ISIS leader, approximately 10 ISIS terrorists and destroyed a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device within vicinity of Coalition partner forces it was assessed that five civilians were unintentionally killed.”
Airwars researchers were unable to identify any local claims of civilian harm for that date. However the site Vedeng did note heavy clashes: “Meanwhile, there are at the moment violent battles between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the International Coalition forces on the one hand, and members of Daesh on the other hand inside Soor in eastern Deir Ezzor, where the [SDF] fighters made significant progress inside the town in addition to the destruction of an explosive vehicle for the organization.
In a related context, SDF forces were able to control the town of Granig fully after clashes with elements of the Islamic State, coinciding with raids by international coalition aircraft targeting the town and the vicinity of Hajin city in Abu Kamal.”
The military grid reference provided to Airwars by the US-led Coalition, accurate to within a 100 metre box, suggested a location approximately 20km north east of Mayadeen.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (2) [ collapse]
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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Jan. 9, 2018 near Abu Kamal, Syria via self-report. During a Coalition strike which killed an ISIS leader, approximately 10 ISIS terrorists and destroyed a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device within vicinity of Coalition partner forces it was assessed that five civilians were unintentionally killed.
Original strike reports
For January 9th, the Coalition reported: “Near Abu Kamal, 26 strikes engaged 25 ISIS tactical units and destroyed three ISIS vehicles, a fighting position and a logistics center.”