Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1560

Incident date

October 1, 2017

Location

Al Haweij crossing near al Shaheel, Deir Ezzor, Syria

Geolocation

35.068432, 40.454664 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Two named civilians died in an airstrike on the al Hawaji crossing near al Shaheel in Deir Ezzor, according to local media. It is currently unclear which party was to blame for the deaths. While no source explicitly blamed the US-led Coalition, many didn’t identify the culprit. Other sources, however, pointed to both Russia and the Assad regime.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at two and said that Russian warplanes were “believed” to have carried out the attack. But according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the regime was to blame.

Two victims were named by Euphrates Post (though it didn’t say which party was responsible for their deaths).

Deir Free, however, attributed the men’s deaths to Russia.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Ghannam Al-Atwan Abu Abdul
Adult male killed
Hamid Hamed Al-Mishaan
Adult male killed

Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention the Al Hawaij (الحوایج) river crossing, located between the villages of Shahil (الشحیل) and Buqrus (بقرص), for which the coordinates are: 35.068432,40.454664. On satellite imagery available to Airwars the river crossing is seen active on October 1st and on October 2nd a Coalition MQ-1/MQ-9 can be seen flying over it

  • The strike targeted the Al Hawaij (الحوایج) river crossing, located between the villages of Shahil (الشحیل) and Buqrus (بقرص)

    Imagery:
    © 2018 Google

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • (2 men)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    US-led Coalition, Russian Military

Sources (8) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • Hamid Hamed Al-Mishaan, killed in a strike on al Shaheel, Oct 1st (via Euphrates Post)
  • Ghannam Al-Atwan Abu Abdul, killed in a strike on al Shaheel, Oct 1st (via Euphrates Post)

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Non credible / Unsubstantiated
    Insufficient information to assess that, more likely than not, a Coalition strike resulted in civilian casualties.
  • Reason for non-credible assessment
    No Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area
  • Civilian deaths conceded
    None
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    None
  • Stated location
    near al Haweij crossing, Deir Ez Zor, Syria
    Nearest population center

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Jun 28, 2018
  • 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

US-led Coalition

For September 30th-October 1st the Coalition reported “Near Abu Kamal, three strikes destroyed an ISIS well head and engaged two tactical units. Near Dayr Az Zawr, one strike destroyed an ISIS tactical vehicle.”

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • (2 men)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    US-led Coalition, Russian Military

Sources (8) [ collapse]