Airwars assessment
In one of the worst reported incidents in nine months of bombings by the US-led Ccoalition, 64 civilians were said to have died in an attack on the village of Ber Mahli near Sareen – the majority of them women (19) and children (32). It remains disputed as to whether the village was partly or wholly under the control of Islamic State forces at the time.
Later admitting that it had carried out a strike on the village, the Coalition said it had instead bombed “several ISIL fighting positions [and] striking more than 50 ISIL fighters.” A CJTF-OIR spokesman appeared to blame any error on Kurdish forces in the area, telling Airwars by email that: “Prior to the airstrikes, Kurdish forces, who held the town before leaving after being attacked by ISIL, reported there were no civilians present in that location and that there had not been any civilians present for two weeks prior to the Coalition airstrikes.”
An internal CENTCOM investigation almost immediately decided “allegation initially not determined credible”, it was revealed in September 2015. The declassified document also appeared to pin responsibility for any error on the YPG, noting that the Kurdish fighters “had held the village up until the ISIL attack and [reported] that there were no civilians in the village.”
According to Al Jazeera, eyewitnesses said that when the village was first bombed, residents ran out of their houses. However Ber Mahli was then repeatedly struck, including a group of cars leaving the village. SN4HR also claimed that “some of the houses were targeted again after people and medical teams gathered to help the victims and wounded.”
Speaking from his hospital bed, one injured survivor spoke of the attack: “We were four families gathered in one room. It was around 11 or 12 at night. They kept on striking the houses. The first time they struck, my cousin was killed with his small children. Why did this happen? Is it because Obama wants to please the King of Saudi Arabia? Why is the coalition bombing us? Why don’t they fight [President] Bashar?“
Another unnamed and injured survivor, a young girl, also spoke for the cameras:”The planes came above us and bombed us and destroyed houses. My father was killed and two of my sisters.”
Buzzfeed also interviewed a 67-year-old witness to the attack, who went by the name of Abu Khaled, who corroborated the names of many of those killed. “They killed whole families. The Americans will never apologize, and they will keep killing civilians,” hecomplained to the news site from southern Turkey.
All 64 known fatalities have now been named by SN4HR and by Manbij News, indicating that entire families were wiped out.
Fadel Abdulghani, head of monitoring group the Syrian Network for Human Rights, demanded that those in the coalition responsible for the deaths be held accountable: “Despite all the efforts made to avoid this, this incident indicates a blatant disrespect for the lives of innocent civilians. The people responsible for this crime should be held accountable which would be a clear message to their associates and commanders.”
In an assessment of the event published in October 2016, it was noted that “a review by Amnesty International of a series of aerial images of the Bir Mahli area, including a satellite image taken approximately one week after the attack, indicates four strike locations and nine to 10 houses being completely flattened…. Amnesty International is concerned that Coalition forces appear to have either mistakenly carried out a large-scale attack on an entirely civilian area having failed to take adequate steps to positively identify a military objective prior to attacking or to have carried out a grossly disproportionate attack against suspected IS targets. In addition, CENTCOM appears to have dismissed evidence indicating scores of civilian casualties.“
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (64)
- Ali Al Shawakh Al Salibi Adult male killed
- Aida Al Hussein al Salibi Adult female Ali al Salibi's wife killed
- Khaled Ali al-Shawakh 25 years old male Aida's son killed
- Mohammad Ali al-Shawakh 24 years old male Aida's son killed
- Eid Ali al-Shawakh 23 years old male Aida's son killed
- Jumah Mustafa Jumah al-Shawakh Al-Sleibi 1 years old male son of Shuaa Mustafa al-Shawakh killed
- Feisal Ali al-Shawakh 17 years old male Aida's son killed
- Mustafa Ali al-Shawakh 17 years old male Aida's son killed
- Wassel Ali al-Shawakh 6 years old male Aida's son killed
- Noura Ali al-Shawakh 14 years old female Aida's daughter killed
- Houriah Ali al-Shawakh 10 years old female Aida's daughter killed
- Nadeih Jassem al-Sheikh Adult female Khaled al Shawak's wife killed
- Ameirah Eid al-Mustafa al-Shawakh Adult female Eid Ali Al Shawak's wife killed
- Nadeih Eid Ali al-Shawakh 1 years old female Ameriah's daughter killed
- Jumah al-Shawakh Al-Sleibi 56 years old male killed
- Fatima Al Kahhal Adult female Jumah's wife killed
- Shawakh Jumah al-Shawakh Al-Sleibi 24 years old male Fatima's son killed
- Ahmad Jumah al-Shawakh al-Sleibi 17 years old male Fatima's son killed
- Lamya Jumah al-Shawakh Al-Sleibi 23 years old female Fatima's daughter killed
- Shuaa Mustafa al-Shawakh 30 years old female wife of Mustafa Jumah al-Shawakh Al-Sleibi killed
- Moneirah Mustafa al-Shawakh 24 years old female Wife of Shawakh Jumah al-Shawakh Al-Sleibi killed
- Khaznah Ahmad al-Obeid 28 years old female Wife of Wasel Jumah al-Shawakh Al-Sleibi killed
- Mustafa Wasel Jumah al-Shawakh Al-Sleibi 1 years old male Khaznah's Ahmad al Obeid's son killed
- Malak Mustafa Jumah al-Shawakh Al-Sleibi 3 years old female the daughter of Shuaa Mustafa al-Shawakh
- Turki Mustafa Jumah al-Shawakh Al-Sleibi 2 years old male the son of Shuaa Mustafa al-Shawakh killed
- Jumah Mustafa Jumah al-Shawakh Al-Sleibi 1 years old male the son of Shuaa Mustafa al-Shawakh killed
- Hadla al-Msallam Adult female wife of Ali Mohammad al-Ali killed
- Hadlah Adult female the second wife of Ali Mohammad al-Ali, from Alja'adah village killed
- Mustafa Ali al-Mohammad al-Ali 31 years old male son of Hadla al-Msallam killed
- Fatema Ali al-Mohammad al-Ali 18 years old female the daughter of Hadla al-Msallam killed
- Najeeb Ali al-Mohammad al-Ali 1 years old male the son of Hadla, the second wife killed
- Maram Mustafa Ali Mohammad al-Ali 6 years old female the daughter of Mustafa Ali Al-Mohammad Ali killed
- Mohammad Mustafa Ali Mohammad al-Ali 5 years old male the son of Mustafa Ali Al-Mohammad Ali killed
- Ali Mustafa Ali Mohammad al-Ali 3 years old male the son of Mustafa Ali Al-Mohammad Ali killed
- Fatema Ali al-Mohammad al-Ali 1 month old years old female Ali Mohammed Ali killed
- Eid al-Mustafa al-Shawakhal-Sleibi 47 years old male killed
- Ghazalah Adult female Eid's wife killed
- Shahah Eid al-Mustafa al-Shawakhal-Sleibi 10 years old female Eid and Ghazalah's daughter killed
- Sabah Eid al-Mustafa al-Shawakhal-Sleibi 6 years old female Eid and Ghazalah's daughter killed
- Mona Eid al-Mustafa al-Shawakhal-Sleibi 2 years old female Eid and Ghazalah's daughter killed
- Aysheh Eid al-Mustafa al-Shawakhal-Sleibi 7 months years old female Eid and Ghazalah's daughter killed
- Turki Eid Al Mustafa Al Shawakh 12 years old male Eid and Ghazalah's daughter killed
- Zleikhah 45 years old female Wife of Jalal Mustafa al-Sleibi killed
- Turkeih 42 years old female the second wife of Jalal Mustafa al-Sleibi killed
- Muhannad Jalal Mustafa al-Sleibi 14 years old male Turkeih's son killed
- Azizah Jalal Mustafa al-Sleibi 11 years old female Turkeih's daughter killed
- Abd Jalal Mustafa al-Sleibi 10 years old male Zleikhah's son killed
- Warde 32 years old female Hussein Al Ali Al Salibi's wife killed
- Raghad al-Husain al-Ali al-Sleibi 11 years old female killed
- Aboud al-Ali al-Sleibi 10 years old male killed
- Younes al-Ali al-Sleibi 4 years old male killed
- Mustafa al-Shawakh al-Sleibi 65 years old male killed
- Shaha Al Salibi Adult female Mustafa's wife killed
- Khatoun Mustafa al-Shawakh al-Sleibi 25 years old female Shahah's daughter killed
- Wardah Mustafa al-Shawakh al-Sleibi 18 years old female Shahah's daughter killed
- Shawakh al-Bakko al-Sleibi 40 years old male killed
- Ahmad Shawakh al-Bakko al-Sleibi 22 years old male killed
- brother of Mustafa al-Bakko al-Sleibi 40 years old male killed
- Khatoun al-Hussein al-Sleibi 38 years old female Wife of Aref al-Mustafa al-Sleibi killed
- Waheideh Aref al-Mustafa al-Sleibi 8 years old female Khatoun's daughter killed
- Amal Aref al-Mustafa al-Sleibi 5 years old female Khatoun's daughter killed
- Mahmoud al-Hussain al-Sleibi 40 years old male killed
- Ida Al Mahmoud Al Hussein Al Salibi 15 years old female killed
- Maryam Mahmoud al-Hussain al-Sleibi 3 years old female killed
Summary
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Media
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US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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Prior to the airstrikes, Kurdish forces, who held the town before leaving after being attacked by ISIL, reported there were no civilians present in that location and that there had not been any civilians present for two weeks prior to the Coalition airstrikes