Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1181

Incident date

July 9, 2017

Location

الموحسن, Muhassan, Deir Ezzor, Syria

Geolocation

35.2257487, 40.3109038 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Five civilians including four children from the same family died in airstrikes on Mohsen village, according to local media. There were no allegations directly against the Coalition, though some sources didn’t identify the warplanes responsible. Other reports attributed the incident to the Assad regime, while a further source said that it was unclear whether the regime or Russia was to blame.

Jorf News said that “A man and four of his sons (from the people of Aleppo who were displaced) were killed by successive raids of the regime at dawn on the city of Mohsin in the eastern countryside.” RFS also said the regime was responsible. It reported that “the military aircraft of the Assad regime targeted the district of the Boderbas in the city of Mohsin in the eastern suburb of Deir Al-Azzur, amid news of a number of martyrs and wounded civilians.”

Jorfnews also pointed to the regime, blaming its warplanes for the death of a man and four of his sons, displaced from Aleppo.

Syrian Press Centre didn’t identify the culprit, but reported that activists said that the warplanes targeted the neighborhood with two air-to-surface rockets, killing five civilians from one family, including children.

Athadsyria1 reported that there were three strikes: “The first on the house of Hamid Abbas And the second in the district of Buderbas between Fikret and Bayt Wahab Al-Yassin. And the third in Faisal al-Zaher’s house”

But the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it wasn’t clear whether the regime or Russia carried out the raids.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Muhassan (الموحسن), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.2257487, 40.3109038. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5
  • (4 children)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    US-led Coalition, Russian Military

Sources (8) [ collapse]

CJTF–OIR Declassified Assessment and Press Release

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.

Declassified Assessment Press Release

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.
  • Reason for non-credible assessment
    No Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area
  • Civilian deaths conceded
    None
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    None
  • Stated location
    near Mohsen, Syria
    Nearest population center

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • May 31, 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.

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For July 9th-10th: “Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes destroyed 30 ISIS oil stills, four oil caches and a well-head.“

Russian Military Assessment:

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

Media
from belligerent (1) [ collapse]

  • "The RAF are continuing to take the fight to Daesh in Iraq and Syria." (via DefenceHQ)

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5
  • (4 children)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    US-led Coalition, Russian Military

Sources (8) [ collapse]