Geolocation
Airwars assessment
At least seven civilians were reported killed and dozens more wounded in air and/or rocket/artillery strikes on Al Mayadin – though the death toll looked likely to rise with multiple reports saying that up to 21 other civilians were still trapped under the rubble.
It is currently unclear who was responsible for this incident, with sources pointing to both the US-led Coalition and to Russia. Moreover, a reference to “rocket fire” by one source means that SDF actions could not be ruled out.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, “warplanes that likely belong to the International Coalition carried out several strikes this morning on areas in the town of Al-Mayadin in the eastern suburb of Deir ez Zour, targeting the agricultural area of the city. So far there is no information about civilian casualties.”
The Step News Agency said that the Coalition carried out five strikes, killing a family of four.
According to Deir Free, a family of seven died in a Coalition strike – adding that the death toll was increasing.
Further sources, however, suggested a more significant casualty incident. Euphrates Post reported that “some 21 civilians, most of them women and children, have been trapped in the rubble since 2:30 pm as a result of air strikes targeting the city of Al-Mayadin near the agricultural bank and the general pharmacy in the public street towards the club (Mohammed Al-Shuaibi’s house) of the halal market.”
The source went on to list some of the names of civilians trapped under the rubble as: “Kanaan Shuaibi and his daughters, Luai Shuaibi and his wife, the daughter of Humaid Al Shuaibi, the daughter of Sufian Al Shuaibi, the family of Kanaan Al Shuaibi, the wife of Ammar Yasser Al Shuaibi.” It added that the equipment required to remove these people was unavailable, but that “the family of al Hassan al Shuaibi were all pulled out of the rubble, along with the children of Yasser and Othman Mohammed Al Shuaibi and their grandmother. They are all well and in good health.” DPN also reported that the al Shuaibi family were rescued from under their home after it was destroyed by “rocket fire”.
The Shaam News Network produced a similar report, saying that 21 civilians remained under the rubble after an attack by unidentified “warplanes”.
But Qasioun blamed Russia, saying that “activists reported that more than 30 air strikes carried out by Russian planes on the city and Al-Mayadeen which resulted in dozens of civilians killed and wounded.”
Deir Ezzor 24 said that other locations struck included “the bank and area behind the Shdoukhi building”.
Deir Free Radio later named Amer Mohammed Eid al-Darwish as a victim.
Dania Abdel Razzaq al-Ta’is (displaced from Deir al-Zour) was documented as a victim in a later report by Euphrates Post. The Post also reported the child Dalia Ammar Yasser Shuaib was still missing 48 hours after the search began, saying that her mother and her maternal grandfather in addition to ten others were still searching for her with limited equipment.
In subsequent reports, Euphrates Post confirmed the death of Fatima Abdel Moneim Al Hammadi and her pregnant daughter Dalia; and Mrs. Ola Sufian al-Shuaibi, wife of Hassan Yarub al-Shuaib; along with Jamal Abdul Wahab Ibrahim Hamad Al-Abdullah (Abu Khaled), who reportedly died later from wounds sustained in this incident.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (2)
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (22) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]
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The child Dalia Ammar Yasser Shuaibi
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention multiple strikes on the city of Al Mayadin (المیادین), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.016667, 40.444167. One specific location mentioned is the Al Shamla (الشاملة) pharmacy and residential buildings near the Agricultural Bank in the city of Al Mayadin (المیادین). Airwars was unable to locate the pharmacy, however, the coordinates for the Agricultural Bank are: 35.017705, 40.456274.
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 27th-28th, the Coalition reported: “Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed four ISIS supply routes and an ISIS headquarters”