Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Up to 15 civilians died following alleged US-led Coalition strikes on Markada in the southern countryside of Al Hasakah governorate. It was claimed that the Coalition targeted a number of locations in the town controlled by so-called Islamic State. The attack left an unknown number of others wounded.
Airstrikes hit a vegetable market in the centre of the town, according to Jisr TV, resulting in the loss of civilian life; The news station said the Coalition strikes came in conjunction with a “battle launched by the Kurdish separatist militias to control the southern countryside of Hasakah and areas in the northern countryside of Deir Ezzor”. Furthermore, Shaam News Network reported: “there are very serious battles between ISIS and the Syrian Democratic Forces in the town of Markada”, with the source adding that “activists reported 15 killed in a horrific massacre by air raids carried out by the Coalition… in the centre of the town.”
Euphrates Post named one victim as Mahmoud Salloum Dawood al-Hafel from the village of al-Mweileh, who died during airstrikes near the area of Markada while trying to flee to the countryside of Hasakah. The source was the only one that did not apportion blame. All others alleged the US-led Coalition was culpable for the attack and resultant loss of life.
The incident occured during the night.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (12) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Markada (مركدة) in the countryside south of Al Hasaka (الحسكة), for which the coordinates are: 35.765641, 40.771032. Sources mention the vegetable market and the centre as being struck, suggesting that the market is possibly in the centre of the town, however, due to limited information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further
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 October 5th-6th 2017 the Coalition reported that “Near Al Hawl, one strike destroyed an ISIS staging area.” And that “Near Al Shadaddi, one strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.”