Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1782

Incident date

July 21, 2018

Location

بين بلدة السوسة والظهرة في البادية, Al Soussa/al Dahra, Deir Ezzor, Syria

Geolocation

34.528889, 40.9675 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Local sources reported that up to thirty civilians were killed and injured when Coalition airstrikes allegedly targeted several locations between al Soussa and al Dahra.

Most sources stated that the civilians were struck when they were trying to escape the village of al Soussa and move towards the al Dahra area in al Badia, rural Deir Ezzor. ISIS had reportedly allowed some civilians to flee.

According to Deir Ezzor 24, this happened when Coalition aircraft were “targeting several locations for Daesh in the town of Al-Soussa”. All sources identified the Coalition as the culprit.

Baladi News later noted that “dozens of civilians, including women and children” were killed and injured in the attack. This was reiterated by Syrian state media SANA, which added that “scores of families from al-Soussa have been fleeing the airstrikes of the Coalition that have been targeting their homes for days.”

Al Soussa Youth reported that one of the civilians killed was identified as Hamid Al Zaidan from al Habatra, whose recovered body had been brought to his family. According to the report, the other bodies “can’t be reached.” Two days after the event, both al Soussa Youth and Step News Agency reported a tally of 30 civilians killed, while mentioning that these were still not recovered from the site.

Two days after the incident, Mena Monitor News stated that the SDF “found eight bodies of civilians in the town of Soussa in the eastern suburb of Deir al-Ghazur, which were killed by an air strike by the international coalition coalition two days ago”.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Hamid Al Zaidan
Adult male killed

Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention the villages of Al Baghouz and Al Soussa, for which the coordinates are: 34,528889, 40,9675

  • The villages Al Soussa and Al Baghouz

    Imagery:
    © 2018 Google

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    24 – 30
  • (2 children2 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • 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 (12) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Body of Hamid Al Zaidan (via al Soussa Youth)

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-Soussa, Syria
    Nearest population center
  • Location accuracy
    100 m
  • MGRS coordinate
    37SFU805225
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Oct 25, 2018
  • July 21, 2018, near al-Soussa, 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

US-led Coalition

The Coalition publicly reported that on July 21st 2018: “Near Abu Kamal, three strikes engaged one Daesh tactical unit, and destroyed three
Daesh vehicles and one Daesh line of communication."

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    24 – 30
  • (2 children2 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • 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 (12) [ collapse]