Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Up to seven civilians including two women and a girl died in an airstrike on a school sheltering displaced people in Mazloum village, eastern Deir Ezzor, according to local media. Though local sources were conflicted as to whether the Coalition, Russia or the Syrian regime were to blame, the village did appear to have been the target of a regime offensive.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights attributed the event to the Coalition, putting the death toll at at least seven with more injured – many, it said, in a serious condition. According to Deir Ezzor News, which didn’t identify the culprit, “Seven people died and a number more were wounded as a result of the bombing of a school that housed displaced persons in Mazloum village in the eastern suburb of Deir Al-Azur.
The shelling targeted a school sheltering displaced people from the village of Al-Maraiya, killing seven civilians, including a girl and two women, and wounding several others. The number of martyrs is likely to increase due to the large number of wounded, and a significant shortage of medicines and medical services in the village, and there is a state of inability to treat a number of injuries”.
However, the majority of sources – Syria Press Center, SMO, Marsad al Hassaka and Euphrates Post – blamed Russia. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, however, the regime carried out the attack. It put the death toll at six including a girl and two women.
Other sources added that dozens more civilians were injured in the event – though some did not identify the warplanes responsible.
Four days after the event, Euphrates Post noted “The movement of displaced people from the towns of Mazloum, Mrat and Khaisham Tahtani as a result of artillery shelling by the regime forces located in the town of Al-Marayya.”
There were more than 50 raids fired onto the vicinity.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (2)
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Mazloum (مظلوم), for which the coordinates are: 35.307731, 40.257403. Several sources mention that the alleged Coalition airstrike targeted a school, but on satellite imagery of September 19, 2017, no obvious additional damage can be seen to schools in or around the village
Summary
Sources (25) [ 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 September 12th – 13th, the Coalition reported: “Near Dayr Az Zawr, five strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions, two VBIEDs, a VBIED facility and a logistics node.“
For September 13th - 14th, the Coalition reported: "Near Abu Kamal, one strike destroyed an ISIS headquarters" and "Near Dayr Az Zawr, nine strikes [2 or more British] engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed two tactical vehicles, an ISIS fuel station and a fighting position"
‘Wednesday 13 September – a Reaper twice engaged terrorists on foot, as well as a truck-bomb, whilst Tornados and Typhoons struck a Daesh building, all near Dayr az Zawr…On Wednesday 13 September, another Reaper continued patrolling near Dayr az Zawr. It used two Hellfire missiles to attack terrorists spotted on foot, then employed a third missile to destroy an armoured truck-bomb positioned next to a main road. A mixed Tornado and Typhoon pair meanwhile targeted a group of Daesh in a building nearby, scoring a direct hit with a Brimstone.’