Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Local sources reported on the deaths of up to eleven civilians as a result of strikes carried out by Coalition helicopters in an area east of the city of Al Shadadi.
According to Euphrates Post “a massacre” took place after a bombardment on a prison in the town of Abu Hamda. The report put the initial civilian death toll at eleven. The media outlet also stated that US helicopters carried out “landing attempts” – as did most other sources. All reports blamed the Coalition for the casualties.
An Al Khabout correspondent quoted sources from inside the villages, who confirmed that an “Apache aircraft” used “heavy machine guns” to target an ISIS HQ which resulted in “martyrs and wounded among the villagers”. The same sources stated that Coalition forces arrested four people who were allegedly taken to the US base in the city of Shaddadi.
The report of Coalition bombardments on a prison was reiterated by Zamanalwasl and Al Jisr TV. However, both media outlets stated that 8 civilians were killed and a number of others injured in the village of al Sarajiya, east of Abu Hamda.
The lowest fatal tally, 3, was reported by the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
The incident was first reported on April 17, 2018 at 3:00 pm by .
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the area of Abu Hamda (أبو حامضة), Hasakah governorate, for which the coordinates of its midpoint are: 35.993563, 40.994453 (or according to the Military Grid Reference System: 37S FV 78). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further
Summary
Sources (12) [ collapse]
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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April 17, 2018, near Al-Sarajiya Village, Syria, via Airwars. 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
For April 17th, the Coalition did not publicly report any strikes in the Hasakah governorate.