Geolocation
Airwars assessment
A Coalition airstrike hit the Al-Zawiya Mosque in Hajin – the fourth reported airstrike on a mosque carried out by the Coalition in the governorate of Deir Ezzor in less than a week.
Local sources claimed that at least 7 and up to 16 civilians died in this attack. Free Deir Ezzor said that there were reports of “several civilian deaths” after “international coalition aircraft committed a new massacre by targeting Al Zawiya mosque in Hajin”.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a total of 16 people were killed, of whom 7 were civilians and 9 were members of ISIS.
Step News Agency put the civilian death toll at 8 and Sound and Picture at nine.
According to Syrian Unified Observatory, “16 people” died with “dozens more wounded”. This source also attributed the event to the Coalition.
The Coalition’s chief spokesman confirmed a strike on a mosque on the same day, though placed the event at either al Shaafa or al Soussa – noting in a tweet that “#ISIS continues to launch attacks from mosques. They have no regard for innocent lives and protected sites. The Coalition conducted a strike today on an ISIS fighting position in Ash Shafa mosque. The MERV will be liberated soon by #SDF”.
Hajin magazine provided some context on the recent mosque strikes: “People inside Hajin and the villages under the control of Daesh have unfortunately become the target of planes while they’re in mosques. The reason for this is that those dogs and pigs of Daesh are using mosques as headquarters. We ask you as far as possible to stay away from them. God save us from Daesh.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Hajin: Al Zawiya mosque (مسجد الزوية), for which the generic coordinates are: 34.6897222, 40.83. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (19) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Original strike reports
For October 23rd-24th, the Coalition reported: “Near Hajin, 30 strikes engaged 16 tactical units, and destroyed 18 fighting positions, 10 supply routes, two bridges, three vehicles, two firing positions, one compound, one vehicle borne IED, one command and control center.”
For October 24th-25th: “Near Hajin, 27 strikes engaged five tactical units, destroyed 22 fighting positions, three firing positions, one weapons cache, two staging areas, three mortars, five supply routes, one IED factory, one vehicle borne IED, one bridge, one vehicle, one command and control center, and one factory.”
The Coalition's chief spokesman also confirmed a strike on a mosque that day, though claimed this was either at al Shaafa or al Soussa.
Wednesday 24 October – Tornados destroyed an armed truck, and two strong-points which were firing at the Syrian Democratic Forces…On Wednesday 24 October, another Tornado flight provided further close air support to the SDF in the same area [north-east of Abu Kamal]. Our aircraft struck a truck, armed with a pair of anti-aircraft guns, with a Paveway; the attack also accounted for a number of terrorists close to the vehicle. The SDF then encountered two successive Daesh strong-points, both of which engaged the SDF at short range. Despite the proximity of the SDF to the two targets, the Tornados were able to strike both of the terrorist positions with Paveway IVs.
For Oct 24th-30th, France report that the three CAESAR guns of Task Force Wagram have conducted 6 firing missions from Iraqi territory. Aircraft carried out 18 sorties and four strikes north of Abu Kamal, Syria.
'CHAMMAL SITUATION MILITAIRE DU THEATRE Offensive contre les dernières poches de Daech en Syrie L’opération pour reprendre la poche d’Hajine dans la moyenne vallée de l’Euphrate, lancée le 10 septembre, se poursuit. Daech a profité des mauvaises conditions météorologiques pour mener des contre-attaques cette semaine et reprendre du terrain aux forces démocratiques syriennes. Poursuite des actions de sécurisation en Irak En Irak, les opérations de sécurisation des forces de sécurité irakiennes (FSI) se poursuivent. ACTIVITÉ DE LA FORCE Le dispositif français déployé au Levant n’a pas évolué. La Task Force Wagram en appui de l’offensive contre les dernières poches de Daech présentes dans la vallée de l’Euphrate. La Task Force Wagram appuie l’offensive des forces démocratiques syriennes contre Daech dans la région d’Hajine. Les trois canons CAESAR ont ainsi réalisé, depuis le territoire irakien, 6 missions de tir (éclairement, harcèlement, destruction – bilan du 24 au 30 octobre inclus). Depuis le début de son engagement, la Task Force Wagram a réalisé 1998 missions de tirs. Les bases aériennes en Jordanie et aux EAU en appui des opérations Au sein de la coalition, les aéronefs français basés en Jordanie et aux Émirats arabes unis poursuivent leurs actions contre Daech. Cette semaine, les aéronefs de l’opération Chammal ont réalisé 18 sorties aériennes (bilan du 24 au 30 octobre inclus) et conduit 4 frappes, en appui des FDS au nord d’Abou Kamal en Syrie. Bilan total de l’action du pilier appui aérien depuis le 19/09/14 : 8600 sorties / 1476 frappes / 2275 objectifs neutralisés.'
For October 24th – 31st, Dutch MoD reports that Dutch F-16s supported ground troops during nine missions. Weapons were deployed in four: near Abu Kamal, Deir Ezzor governorate, Syria and near Mosul, Nineveh province, Iraq. Targets were ISIS warehouses and vehicles.
‘In de strijd tegen terreurorganisatie ISIS ondersteunden Nederlandse F-16’s grondtroepen tijdens 9 missies. Bij 4 zijn wapens ingezet. Een overzicht van Defensieoperaties in de week van 24 tot 31 oktober 2018. Dat gebeurde in de provincies Deir al Zour en Ninawa, in de omgeving van Abu Kamal (Oost-Syrië) en Mosul (Irak). Doelwit waren opslagplaatsen en voertuigen van ISIS.‘