Geolocation
Airwars assessment
A major civilian casualty incident took place on the village of Jadid Bakara, Deir Ezzor Governorate. Reporting remains contested and various local sources have blamed Russia, the Regime and the US-led Coalition. Between 11 and 15 civilians died, “dozens” were reportedly wounded, and the death toll included at least one women and five children.
The Euphrates Post reported “Russian warplanes” targeted “the village of Jadid Bakara with three air raids targeting the perimeter of the telephone exchange in the village and another raid targeting al Jaraf [the valley]”. Multiple sources said the raid hit close to a car where people were distributing bread.
The Euphrates Post later published a list of suspected victims.
Smart reported the Russian Ministry of Defence announcement, “the Veliky Novgorod and Kolpino submarines in the eastern part of the Mediterranean had targeted “locations” of the “Islamic State” in the south-eastern Deir es-Zour countryside (without specifying the location)”. Though it unclear if this statement relates to the incident at Jadid Bakara village.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights alleged Moscow responsible, and referred to “shelling” by their forces, however in an earlier report they attributed blame to a “Syrian-Russian alliance”.
Two sources, Baladi and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, blamed the Coalition, SOHR noted that buildings and civilian homes were destroyed in the offensive.
A majority of sources blamed the Russians, however many of the reports are unclear on the specificities of the incident, and many suspected Russia, the Regime and the US-led Coalition to be operating in the area of Deir Ezzor at the time.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (3)
Family members (2)
Family members (2)
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (18) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention a post building, the perimeter of the telephone exchange and Al Jaraf ((الجرف) or the valley area) in the village of Jadid Bakara (جدید بكارة), for which the coordinates are: 35.243656,40.366945. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify these locations further
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 September 13th-14th, the Coalition reported: “Near Dayr Az Zawr, nine strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed two tactical vehicles, an ISIS fuel station and a fighting position.”
For September 14th - 15th, the Coalition reported: "Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two vehicles". It later reported, "On Sept. 14, near Dayr Az Zawr, Syria six strikes destroyed an ISIS UAS, a fighting position, an ISIS supply route and suppressed three fighting positions"
‘Friday 15 September – a Reaper supported coalition airstrikes near Dayr az Zawr, and delivered two attacks itself against extremists in the open, whilst Typhoons destroyed a Daesh-held building… On Friday 15 September, a Reaper was again very active north-east of Dayr az Zawr; it provided support to coalition airstrikes which destroyed three Daesh-held buildings, then conducted two attacks on its own account with Hellfire missiles against terrorists moving through the area. Nearby, a Typhoon flight bombed a further Daesh-held building.’