(Previous Incident Code: S1610)

Local sources reported that between 28 and 58 civilians were killed and up to 45 injured as a result of alleged Coalition or associated Iraqi strikes on an “ice factory” in the Deir Ezzor countryside.

According to a correspondent for Step News, Coalition aircraft “launched five successive air strikes”, hitting an ice processing plant called “Mozan” at the intersection between the towns of Al Sousse and al Baghouz.

Hajeen Magazine however stated that “Muazen” is the name of the village “between the towns of Al-Bagouz Al Fawqani and Al Sousse. Step News Agency’s correspondent stated that villagers had gathered at the factory to get ice when the area was struck, resulting “in a massacre, […] in addition to the massive destruction of residential buildings and shops.”

Al Sousse Youth reported a tally of 35 civilians killed, noting that the airstrike took place “after sunset” and added that among the civilians killed were two members of the Shahadat family. This was confirmed in a Facebook post by Shabab.net in which was stated that the son of Mahdi Al-Salamah and the son of Mahjoub Salama were both killed. Sound and Picture and Hajeen Magazine reported the highest tally, saying that between 55 and 58 were killed – most of them displaced Iraqis.

The director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed “the death and injury of dozens”. His statement placed this incident in the context of a current military operation for the control of the “the last enclave of the ‘Islamic State’ on the eastern banks of the Euphrates River”. A later report by the Observatory identified a more specific number of civilians killed, stating that the airstrike led to “the martyrdom of 28 civilians, mostly Iraqi nationalities”. The monitor added that “until now we don’t know whether the planes were Iraqi or coalition.”

Reuters later reported that the Coalition confirmed that it or “partner forces” may have conducted the air raid. Coalition spokesman Colon Sean Ryan stated in an e-mailed response to a question posed by Reuters that “The Coalition or our partner forces may have conducted strikes in the vicinity of Al Soussa and Baghour Fukhani yesterday”. Reports of civilian casualties would have been sent to the “Civilian Casualty Cell for further assessment”, the spokesperson stated.

In November 2018, the Coalition announced that it had classed the event as non-credible: “After reviewing all the available evidence, the preponderance of the evidence did not indicate that the alleged civilian casualties were caused by Coalition operations.”