At least one named man, whose status as a civilian or belligerent presently remains contested, was killed and a civilian was injured in alleged Coalition airstrikes (or possibly an IED attack) near the city of Ras Al-Ain in the Al Hassaka countryside on April 4th 2021. The UK declared a Reaper drone strike in the near region for that date.
Free Hasska Reporter described and included pictures of what it said was a Kia vehicle, after having been reportedly struck with “three missiles” and named the person killed as Omar Abdel-Fattah. Adar Press indicated that he may have been using another name and ” it was not able to know his real name, but he bears an identity issued by the local council of the city of Ras al-Ain.”
Instead according to Ezdina, “a civilian lost his life and another was wounded, as a result of the explosion of an explosive device, today, Sunday, in the countryside of Sere Kaniye / Ras Al-Ain.” It also reported that “the explosive device, which was planted in a civilian vehicle, exploded.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that ” the dead man was a civilian, not belonging to any armed faction, and he was from the region and belonged to the Adwan clan, which is why it is likely that his death was a result of clan and family disputes.”
Ida2at also identified the man killed as a civilian, stating that he died from “the explosion of a truck transporting petroleum products…as a result of a technical failure that led to the ignition of the refined fuel.” They also added that the road that the incident occurred on was “used by armed factions loyal to the “Turkish occupation”, to allegedly facilitate smuggling operations with Syrian Democratic Forces.
Syrian TV also identified both the man killed and wounded as being civilians, though harmed by an explosive device planted in the car, adding that they had “crossed illegally” coming from areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the countryside of Hasaka.”
Euphrates Post quoted local sources as saying “a “Kia 2700” vehicle exploded on Darbasiyah Road before entering Ras Al-Ain, killing the driver, whom it described as a member of the “National Army”, and also wounding a civilian.”
A tweet by the Violations Documentation Centre identified the man killed as being an “ISIS leader” and attributed the strike to “a drone, believed to be by the international coalition to fight ISIS led by the United States.” Rojava Network also noted what it said was the “killing of the leader of the terrorist organization ISIS, Omar Abdel Fattah, in a raid by an international coalition drone”.
Xeber 24 instead reported that “sources suggested that the targeted person was affiliated with the armed factions and organizations supported by Turkey, as the Ankara loyalists struck a large security cordon at the location of the targeting.”
According to NPA Syrian, “this [would be] the first time that the Global Coalition has targeted ISIS or al-Qaeda leaders in this region.”
The British Royal Air Force issued a statement on April 8th that “In a separate operation carried on Sunday 4 April, an RAF Reaper, armed with Hellfire missiles, identified a small group of Daesh terrorists in northern Syria, some fifty miles west of Al Hasakah. Having checked that there were no civilians nearby, the Reaper’s crew attacked the terrorists, striking the target successfully.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
