Geolocation
Airwars assessment
On September 1, 2017, up to seven civilians died in an airstrike on Al Shmeitiya, according to local media. While most sources didn’t identify the belligerent, two reports attributed the event to Russia.
In three sequential reports the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights noted the deaths of between two and four civilians following airstrikes on al Shmeitiya, Deir Ezzor. Initially SOHR reported that three people were killed in the west of Deir Ezzor, though did not specify the location. A second report said four civilians were killed after airstrikes on al Shmeitiya, and the third SOHR report alleged that two men were killed in the town. None of the SOHR reports blamed the US-led Coalition or any other actor, referring only to “bombing by warplanes”.
The Syrian Human Rights Committee reported that Owaid al-Hamid al-Saleh was killed in the incidents in the Al-Shmeitiya area and Syrian Press Center reported that Khalaf Al Hamid was killed in the same incidents.
According to the reports a number of other civilians are likely to have been injured, though the number was unknown. Significant material destruction reportedly occurred as a result of the raid.
Sadaalshaam reported that seven civilians died including one woman in a strike by unidentified warplanes. However, Alghad alsouri and Syrian Press Center blamed Russia. The former put the death toll at three.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Al-Shmeitiya (الشمیطیة), for which the coordinates are: 35.471226, 39.935818. One source mentions an area called al-Mestah (المسطاحة), which Airwars was unable to locate
Summary
Sources (7) [ collapse]
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 31st – September 1st, the Coalition reported: “Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units, destroyed five tactical vehicles and a machine gun, and damaged a bridge.”
For September 1st - 2nd, the Coalition reported: "Near Dayr Az Zawr, five strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed 11 oil stills, four vehicles, an ISIS-held building, a bulldozer, a fuel truck, and an artillery system", and later reported "On Sept. 1, near Dayr Az Zawr, Syria, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle"