Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Up to 60 civilians died and dozens more were wounded in airstrikes on Dablan, according to local media – though sources were conflicted as to who was responsible for the event, with allegations against the Coalition, Russia and the Syrian regime.
The pro-regime source, Damas Press, put the death toll at 40 and blamed the US-led Coalition. However, Syria News Desk was among several sources attributing the event to Moscow, putting the death toll at 40 non-combatants with 60 more injured. It reported that four houses were completely destroyed amid extensive damage to residential buildings and shops. Additionally, the report said that “that dozens of families fled towards the Badia, fearing renewed targeting of the town as planes continued to fly overhead”.
Euphrates Post also pointed towards Russia: “According to the correspondent of the network Furat Post media, unknown aircraft – though thought to belong to the Russian air force – targeted residential sites in the center of the town of Dablan with cluster bombs
“The source added that the mosques in the town used loud speakers to tell people to go to medical points to donate blood due to the large number of injuries caused by the bombing”.
But a later report by Euphrates Post referred to “the air force” [regime] launching several strikes with “with internationally banned cluster bombs”. It said that eye witnesses saw one raid targeting “an internet cafe belonging to al Siki family in the al Kaws neighbourhood in the city centre. This damaged seven nearby houses killing 17 martyrs. Another raid targeted agricultural land in the town. Most of the martyrs were children and women who slept on rooftops and outside due to heat. The weather and power outages had led to an increase in the number of martyrs. There is no final figure for the number of victims, but 20 have been buried so far”.
Some other sources referred to “unknown warplanes with cluster bombs”.
But according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights – which put the death toll at at least 13 – jets belonging to the regime were to blame. Sharqiya Voice – one of the sources blaming Russia – reported that the death toll had risen to 60.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (4)
Family members (3)
Family members (3)
Family members (2)
Family members (2)
Family members (2)
Family members (2)
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (24) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (5) [ collapse]
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The aftermath of a raid on a civilian home in Dablan, June 28th 2017. (via Sharqiya Voice)
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The remnants of a cluster bomb which was used on Dablan by alleged Coalition or Russian airstrikes, 28th June 2017. (via Sharqiya voice)
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Aftermath of the airstrike on Dablan by alleged Coalition or Russian airstrikes, 28th June 2017. (via Sharqiya voice)
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Aftermath of the airstrike on Dablan by alleged Coalition or Russian airstrikes, 28th June 2017. (via Sharqiya voice)
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The remnants of a missile which was used on Dablan by alleged Coalition or Russian airstrikes, 28th June 2017. (via Sharqiya voice)
Attached to this civilian harm incident is a provisional reconciliation of the Pentagon's declassified assessment of this civilian harm allegation, based on matching date and locational information.
The declassified documents were obtained by Azmat Khan and the New York Times through Freedom of Information requests and lawsuits filed since March 2017, and are included alongside the corresponding press release published by the Pentagon. Airwars is currently analysing the contents of each file, and will update our own assessments accordingly.
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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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.
Original strike reports
For June 28th-29th: “Near Dayr Az Zawr, five strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed 10 oil storage tanks, six oil trucks, two fuel trailers, an well head, a piece of oil processing equipment and an ISIS headquarters.”