Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Two woman died and eight other civilians were wounded in an airstrike on a school which was housing displaced people in Al Zabari, according to local media – though reports were conflicted as to whether the Coalition or Russia carried out the strike.
According to Syrian Press Center, “an air strike targeted a girls’ school housing a number of displaced people in the town of Zubari on Thursday evening”. Other sources also reported that the school was struck but didn’t identify the culprit.
Step News Agency said that the Coalition carried out a raid on Al Zubari, while Sharqiya Voice blamed Russia, reporting that “a woman was killed and others were injured in a raid by the same planes [Russian] on a refugee school in the town of al Zubari. This resulted in the death of two women and injury of 8 others in addition to material damage”.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (14) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention that the airstrike targeted a girl’s school housing displaced people in the village of Al Zabari (الزباري), the coordinates of this village are: 35.1292971, 40.3955095. There was a Russian cruise missile attack that day which hit a school in Al Zabari, as seen in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiFkGYmed6A&feature=youtu.be&t=14s. The coordinates for this school are: 35.11430, 40.393429
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.’