Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Multiple local sources reported that a minimum of four people were killed in an air raid in al Tabani. One report from Smart totalled the number of victims at seven. The majority of sources asserted that the strikes were carried out by Russian forces, or as reported by Step news agency, ‘#russian-owned’ aircraft.
According to an article on Syrianpc News the airstrike targeted “a car carrying four civilians” resulting in ‘killing them and injuring others’. The civilians travelling in the vehicle in Al-Manjam near al Tabani, were described by a number of sources as ‘displaced people’ and in a Qasioun news report as ‘mostly women and children’.
Statements from activists in a Smart news report allege ‘seven civilians, including children, were killed by a military aircraft raid, targeting a car in the town’, though they did not specify the actors in this attack.
The incident was first reported on August 4, 2017 at 12:40 am by @NewsJorf.
Summary
Sources (10) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention the attack on a car near Al-Munjem area (منطقة المنجم), or ‘the mining area’, in the town of Al Talbani (التبني), western Deir Ezzor governorate. Research confirmed that there is a salt mine in Al Tabani, however we were unable to locate it. Another source mentions the car was travelling between the towns of Al Tabani and Maadan. The coordinates for the town of Al Talbani (التبني) are: 35.605833, 39.818611
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 August 4th-5th: “Near Dayr Az Zawr, one strike destroyed four ISIS oil stills.”