Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1582

Incident date

October 5, 2017

Location

Sukkaria, Ne'ma Matar school near Al-Hamdan road, Deir Ezzor, Syria

Geolocation

34.491136, 40.886135 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Six civilians from two families reportedly died following airstrikes on the town of Sukkaria, close to Al Bukamal, local sources alleged. An unknown numbers of civilians were left wounded after the attack, with the death toll expected to rise due to some people being in a critical condition.

A correspondent for Deir Ezzor 24 reported that warplanes hit civilian houses in the early hours of the morning,“near the school of Ne’ma Matar and near Al-Hamdan road”, with the source adding that “shelling also caused the destruction of three homes” in total, in addition to the destruction of several shops and other buildings. A subsequent report from Syrian PC added al-Dalu Street to the location detail. Victims were listed by numerous sources.

Jisr TV alleged Russia committed the “massacre”, and asserted that the raids focussed on “residential areas of Sukkaria”; Al Jazeera and Baladi also blamed Russia, while Smart considered the aircraft “likely Russia”. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights blamed both Russia and the Regime, though in a subsequent report referred to “unidentified planes”. In contrast, Deir Ezzor Free Radio suspected the US-led Coalition (which did admit bombing the city that day), with the source adding the “home of Hilal Al Aifan” to the list of places affected, Radio Al Kul also blamed the Coalition.

The incident occured around dawn.

The victims were named as:

Family members (3)

Zakaria al-Gharbi al-A’ttiyah
Age unknown male killed
Yahya al-Gharbi al-A’ttiyah
Age unknown female killed
Dua’a al-Gharbi Al-A’ttiyah
Age unknown female killed

Family members (3)

Ajaj al-Hussein
Adult male killed
Daughter of Ajaj al-Hussein
Child female killed
Daughter of Mohammed Ali Al-Hussein Al Zakar
Age unknown female killed

Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention residential buildings being struck in the vicinity of the Ne’ma Matar school (مطر نعمة) and Al Hamdan road (الحمدان) in the village of Sukkariya (السكریة). Due to limited information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the locations of this school and the road. However, the generic coordinates for the village of Sukkariya (السكریة) are: 34.491136, 40.886135. 

  • Residential buildings were struck in the vicinity of the Ne'ma Matar school (مطر نعمة) and Al-Hamdan road (الحمدان) in the village of Sukkariya (السكریة)

    Imagery:
    © 2018 Google

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    6
  • (1–5 children1–2 women1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • 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 (14) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • Aftermath of the strike

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 Sukkariah, 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 October 4th – 5th the Coalition publicly reported no strikes near Abu Kamal.

Russian Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    6
  • (1–5 children1–2 women1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • 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 (14) [ collapse]