Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS3493

Incident date

June 29, 2018

Location

طفس, Tafas, Dara'a, Syria

Geolocation

32.735089, 36.067813 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Alleged Russian, Syrian regime and/or Iranian air and/or artillery strikes targeted the town of Tafas, Dara’a countryside, on June 29th, 2018, according to local sources. Possibly, civilians were injured and killed.

Shaam News Network reported that “the Russian military and Assad aircraft and helicopter gunships launched airstrikes with rockets and explosive barrels on the neighbourhoods of Dara’a and on the towns and villages of Nawa, Tafas, Kahil, Sheikh Saad, Giza, Mseifra, Saida, Gharia, Gharbia and Sharqiya and Um Al Mayan, resulting in the deaths and injuries of civilians”, implying that civilians were possible harmed in Tafas.

@alahmed_nasser reported that the “Syrian Arab Army artillery strikes targeted locations and points of armed militants in Tafas town in Dara’a countryside.” @3bdalra7man7ar reported Russian airstrikes on the town

@Step_Agency wrote that artillery shelling targeted Tafas, explicitly stating there had been no injuries.

@s3d_al3nezi and @Horan_now1 blamed Iranian forces for artillery and rocket strikes on Tafas.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime, Iranian Military
  • Suspected target
    Unknown

Sources (8) [ collapse]

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Iranian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Iranian Military
  • Iranian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime, Iranian Military
  • Suspected target
    Unknown

Sources (8) [ collapse]

Incident Code

CS1679 IRS001

Incident date

November 20, 2017

Location

القريا, Al Quoriya, Deir ez-Zor, Syria

Geolocation

34.96, 40.55 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Two civilians were reportedly killed by a drone strike in al Qouriya, local media said, though neither source has said who was responsible.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that “two men were killed and another was wounded after being targeted by a drone in the al-Quriyah area”.

Sharqiya Voice provided some more detail, naming the victims as Abdul Rahman Al Ali Al Aboud and Ali Abdul Rahman Al Aboud, and said that they “were targeted by an unmanned drone after they lost their way and approached the front line of IS in the city of Qouriya”. It added that “Hamid Al-Mohammed Al-Abdullah Al-Sayel was injured in the eyes”.

The United States, UK and Iran all operate armed drones above Syria.

Eabirsabil published two videos on YouTube showing ” the signs of the destruction following unprecedented raids on the town”. Meanwhile, Al Araby TV and Smart confirmed that the regime had control of al Qouriya – suggesting that any strike may have been linked to regime or Russian aircraft.

On December 11th, 2019, SHRC  reported that  Ibrahim Mamoun Al-Qaitum, a child, has died of injuries in the shelling of Qah camp.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (2)

Abdul Rahman Al Ali Al Aboud
male killed
Ali Abdul Rahman Al Aboud
male killed

The victims were named as:

Hamid Al-Mohammed Al-Abdullah Al-Sayel
Age unknown male injured
Ibrahim Mamoun Al-Qaitum
Child male killed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3
  • (1 child)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    US-led Coalition, Syrian Regime, Russian Military, Iranian Military

Sources (8) [ collapse]

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Al Qurayya (القريا), for which the coordinates are: 34.96, 40.55

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For November 19th-20th the Coalition publicly reported no strikes in Syria.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime 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

Civilian casualty statements

Syrian Regime
  • Oct 26, 2018

  • 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

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Iranian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Iranian Military
  • Iranian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3
  • (1 child)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    US-led Coalition, Syrian Regime, Russian Military, Iranian Military

Sources (8) [ collapse]