A boy was killed by an alleged International Coalition and Syrian government operation in the village of Al-Mastaha in the Ma’adan subdistrict of Syria at dawn on December 18, 2025.

Euphrates Post reported that 14-year-old Sami al-Fayez al-Yassin al-Fayyad was killed during a raid by the International Coalition and the Syrian government in the village of Al-Mastaha, adding that Sami was the only son of his parents. A post from @DeirEzzore identified Sami as being 15 years old and specified that he was killed by gunfire during a raid on his family’s home “targeting” his uncle who has been accused of being in ISIS and was arrested. @DeirEzzore included an image of Sami, a young boy pictured wearing a black shirt.

In a post on Facebook, Syrian Observer also reported on the death of Sami but identified his brother as the one who was arrested and said that both had been “accused of belonging to ISIS”. Although this was the only source to mention Sami’s affiliation with ISIS, and recognizing that he was a child, he has been classified as a “contested” civilian until further information comes to light.

Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the operation to the International Coalition and/or Syrian government in a joint operation.