(Previous Incident Code: S1686)

According to the source Marsad al Hassaka, “more than 20 civilians were killed in an air strike by international coalition aircraft on a house in the town of al-Soussa in the eastern suburb of Deir al-Zour. There were dozens of air strikes targeting civilian houses and large-scale destruction in the town amid attempts by the SDF to enter its neighborhoods. The SDF are meeting violent resistance from ISIS”.

Meanwhile, on October 24th, Syria’s state news agency reported: “local sources told SANA that the coalition’s warplanes raided the residential neighborhoods in al-Soussa village and its vicinity in the south eastern countryside of the province, claiming the lives of a number of civilians and injuring others.

The Coalition’s chief spokesperson later tweeted that the alliance had carried out a strike on a mosque in Al Soussa on this day.

In another post, Marsad Hassaka (again on October 24th) gave some context: “There have been dozens of raids by the international coalition aircraft since early morning and artillery shelling fired from Al-Tank oil field targeting al Sousse. Additionally, there has been artillery shelling by the French in al Baghouz to prepare the ground for the Kurdish units to invade. The area saw missile shelling fired from al Omar oil field. Kurdish units are sending dozens of fighters to storm al Sousse following a counterattack by the organization [IS] yesterday night [Oct 23rd]. Clashes are continuing and Syrian regime forces are on alert on the opposite Bank of the Euphrates (al Shamia).”

In its October 2020 monthly civilian casualty review, the US-led Coalition classed this event as ‘non credible’, asserting that “This report contains insufficient information on time, location, or details to assess its credibility.”