Local sources reported that between 17 and 59 civilians were killed in the village of Al Sha’afa. According to a tweet by @syrians, most of the casualties were women and children. The US military has admitted to killing two civilians in the attack.
Radio al Kul and Free Deir Ezzor both stated specifically that 17 non combatants died at al Sha’afa. Step News Agency only makes mention of the destruction of “many buildings, houses and shops.” Other sources may have included the dead from S1526 in their tallies.
In a reply to a query by one of our researchers, Sound and Picture stated that the airstrikes started on the night of February 5th and continued until the morning of February 6th. This was later echoed by Zamanal Wasl. All sources mention the Coalition as the culprit.
It is important to note that Baladi News and Zamanal Wasl identified Al Amaq, the propaganda wing of so-called Islamic State, as their main source.
In the Department of Defense’s 2022 annual report on civilian casualties (1057 report), released April 25, 2024, the US military admitted that two civilians were killed in the strike.