Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Up to four civilians were reported killed in Abu Zuwair, Baiji in Iraq on June 30th, 2020 when a US-led coalition drone bombed them after they carried wreckage of a US-led coalition drone that had crashed earlier on that day. Local reports said that the raid resulted in killing up to four shepherds and the destruction of the drone wreckage that they carried and their vehicle.
@firas1alhashmy reported that the US drone (MQ-1C Gray Eagle) crashed and then a number of shepherds who gathered around were killed after they were attacked by another US drone.
@MaithamAlhmdy tweeted that ” A US plane crashed in Abu Zuwair, in the depth of Baiji Island. The plane was captured by shepherds near the demarcation border with the district. Another drone chased after the shepherds and bombed their vehicle. The shelling destroyed the vehicle, killing the citizens immediately.”
@Mustafa__Kurde said that the drone crashed after carrying out an airstrike on Jabal Makhoul. “An American drone crashed in Abu Zuair area between Baiji and Haditha, northwest of Salah al-Din, after carrying out an air strike on Jabal Makhoul.”
Yesiraq.com said that Al-A’alam Iranian TV Channel said that US drone that crashed was targeted and downed by the Iraqi resistance. Al-A’alam said “A US plane was shot down by Iraqi resistance fires in the Abu Zuwair area in the depth of Baiji Island in Salah al-Din.”
@sumeri129 said that the American airstrike came as revenge for the downed drone. “An American drone crashed, west of Baiji, followed by an American retaliatory raid targeting shepherds , who were killed. ”
Sotaliraq said that after some local shepherds caught the drone, they were bombed. They were killed as a result and Pickup vehicle was destroyed.
While most sources said those killed were sheep herders, @DrJohnHanaDahle said that those killed were found to be members of the Popular Mobilization Forces.
In the third of their September 2020 civilian casualty reports, the US-led Coalition assessed reports that they were responsible for civilian harm in this strike as “non-credible”, stating that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area at that time.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention a vehicle being struck between Abu Zuwair (ابو زوير) and the Al Haditha (حديثة) district border. to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Abu Zuwair are: 35.030418, 42.790203.
Summary
Sources (28) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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Jun. 30, 2020, in Abu Zuwair, Iraq, via Airwars report. After a review of all available records it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties. 3201/CI881 38SKD986786