Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1684 RS2765

Incident date

November 26, 2017

Location

درنج, Daranj, Deir Ezzor, Syria

Geolocation

34.918333, 40.581389 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Five civilians died in an airstrike on Daranj, according to local media, though it was unclear who was responsible, with sources blaming the Coalition, the Syrian regime and one pointing towards Russia. A number of other sources didn’t apportion blame.

Euphrates Post and Deir Ezzor named five victims as killed by unidentified “warplanes”:

Rami Assaf, reportedly a lawyer, alleged that the Coalition carried out the strike, killing the above victims.

Al Jazeera, Al Araby, the Smart News Agency and Zamanalwasl also blamed the Coalition, putting the death toll at four, as did the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, who said that dozens more were injured.

However, the RFS Media Office pointed toward Russia.

While the Coalition has publicly reported no strikes on Syria that day, the SDF took control of the town shortly afterwards. The Syrian Network for Human Rights, however, attributed the event to the regime.

On March 10, 2022 in the CJTF-OIR Civilian Casualty Report, the Coalition reported this incident to be “non-credible”, stating that “After review of all available evidence it was determined that more likely than not civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition strike.”

The incident was first reported on November 26, 2017 at 1:00 am by .

The victims were named as:

Family members (2)

Age unknown male via Deir Ezzor 24 killed
Age unknown male via Deir Ezzor 24 killed

The victims were named as:

Age unknown male via Deir Ezzor 24 killed
Age unknown male via Deir Ezzor 24 killed
Age unknown male via Euphrates post killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Daranj (درنج), for which the coordinates are: 34.918333, 40.581389.  Coordinates released by the Coalition place the event at 34.91833, 40.58139

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–24
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • 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, Syrian Regime

Sources (14) [ collapse]

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Open incident
  • Stated location
    near Daranj, Syria
    Nearest population center
  • Location accuracy
    1 m
  • MGRS coordinate
    37SFU4445465128
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Mar 10, 2022
  • Nov. 26, 2017, near Daranj, Syria, via Airwars report. After review of all available evidence it was determined that more likely than not civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition strike. 2548/S1484 37SFU4445465128

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For November 25th-26th, the Coalition reported: “Near Abu Kamal, five strikes engaged six ISIS tactical units and destroyed four ISIS vehicles and a headquarters.”

Russian Military Assessment:

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

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    5
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–24
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • 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, Syrian Regime

Sources (14) [ collapse]