Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS062

Incident date

March 8, 2015

Location

Mundbaith Refinery, Tal Abyad, Raqqa, Syria

Airwars assessment

Up to 30 people, including civilian oilworkers and alleged ISIL militants, died in a night time strike on Mundbaith Refinery according to multiple reports.

Ara noted that “The bombing also caused the breaking of glass in houses near the border including shops on the Turkish side, causing panic among the population, and the evacuation of houses near the border city of Agca Kalla.” One badly injured civilian was named as Abdullah Abd Al Abdullah.


According to an internal CENTCOM assessment, a review quickly concluded that the claims were “Not credible” the Combined Air Operations Center also concluded that there was “insufficient information to determine CIVCAS.” The declassified report also noted that care had been taken before the strike to ensure that no oil transportation trucks were in the vicinity.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Abdullah Abd Al Abdullah
Age unknown male injured

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    2 – 15
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (7) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • 'Activists say airstrikes by a U.S.-led coalition hit a Syrian oil refinery held by the Islamic State group. Activists say the strikes late Sunday night targeted a refinery near the Turkish-Syrian border. (March 9)' (via AP)

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Non credible / Unsubstantiated
    Insufficient information to assess that, more likely than not, a Coalition strike resulted in civilian casualties.
  • Civilian deaths conceded
    None
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    None

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Oct 27, 2015
  • Responding to a query from Airwars, Centcom stated on October 27th 2015 that “After careful review and based on the best available evidence” it had found that “allegations of civilian casualties by the Coalition were unfounded and deemed not credible.”

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

The Coalition noted for March 8th-9th 2015 that “Near Kobani, five airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, an ISIL modular oil refinery and destroyed seven ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL vehicle.”

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    2 – 15
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition

Sources (7) [ collapse]