Airwars assessment
Local media reported that “a leader of the Islamic State, and his son were killed in a raid by the Washington-led international coalition aircraft” al Laayadh area, near the river crossing, بقرص تحتاني Bokros Tahtani, Eastern Deir Ezzor.
According to Euphrates Post among other sources, he was “coming from the town of Al-Shuhail on a boat and was liquidated immediately upon arrival in Bokros”.
It is unclear from the sources if the son was also a member of the so-called Islamic State organization. All of the reports obtained said the US-led Coalition was responsible.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (7) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes (2) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention a river crossing near the village of Bokros Tahtani (بقرص تحتاني). The coordinates for the village are: 35.054100, 40.450115, and the coordinates for a nearby river crossing seen on satellite imagery are: 35.068116, 40.456966. The river crossing was established in late 2016 and was still active in September, 2017
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 September 6th – 7th the Coalition reported “On Sept. 6, near Dayr Az Zawr, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.”
For September 7th – 8th the Coalition reported “Near Abu Kamal, one strike destroyed an ISIS headquarters.” And that “On Sept. 7, near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two vehicles and an ISIS communication line.”
‘Friday 8 September – a Reaper killed two terrorists setting up an ambush north-east of Dayr az Zawr in Syria, and eliminated another group in a small building nearby…A Reaper remotely piloted aircraft conducted armed reconnaissance over a largely desert area some twenty miles north-east of Dayr az Zawr on Friday 8 September. Two terrorists were tracked on a motorcycle as they collected weapons and headed out to set up an apparent ambush position. They were both killed by a single Hellfire missile. Not far away, another small group of terrorists were seen entering a small building, and also eliminated with a Hellfire.’