Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Three civilians were reportedly killed in alleged US-led Coalition airstrikes on Al Shaafa, Deir Ezzor, on October 30th, 2018, according to local sources.
Al Shaafa town’s Facebook page wrote on October 30th that an alleged Coalition airstrike on “the shops of Atiyya Al Obeidi Al Sheikh Al Qadimat on the public street at the division of Al Shafaa and a car repair shop” killed three civilians.
Several other sources also reported airstrikes on Al Sheefa. @MasarPressNet, for example, tweeted: “International coalition warplanes target the town of Al Shaafa in the eastern countryside with intense raids.” However, none of the other sources reports civilian casualties. Hence, while Airwars graded the strike status of this incident as fair, its civilian harm status remains weak.
Al Shaafa town’s Facebook Post stated that “in the last three days, more than a dozen airstrikes of coalition aircraft were recorded on the town of Al Shaafa. Most of these raids targeted civilian homes and properties. More than 7 houses and 20 people were killed, including children and women.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (7) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes (2) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention a shop belonging to Attia Al Obaidi Al Sheik Al Qadimat (عطية العبيدي الشيخ القديمات) and a car repair shop allegedly located on the main road of Al Shafa (الشعفة). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location of the car repair shop. However, according to images from sources a possible location for Attia’s shop can be found at these coordinates: 34.572206, 40.935694.
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Reports of the incident mention a shop belonging to Attia Al Obaidi Al Sheik Al Qadimat (عطية العبيدي الشيخ القديمات) and a car repair shop allegedly located on the main road of Al Shafa (الشعفة). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location of the car repair shop.
Imagery:Google Earth
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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Oct. 27, 2018, near al Shaafa, Syria, via Airwars report. After a review of all available records it was determined that, more likely than not, civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition action. 3211/CS1817 37SFU774280
Original strike reports
The Coalition publicly reported the following for October 27th-30th:
“On Oct. 27 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted 24 strikes consisting of 32 engagements against ISIS targets. Near Hajin, 24 strikes engaged 12 tactical units, and destroyed three headquarters buildings, five command and control centers, four supply routes, three weapons caches, two IED facilities, and one mortar.
On Oct 28, 2018 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted eight military strikes consisting of seven engagements against ISIS targets. Near Hajin, eight strikes engaged two tactical units, and destroyed one supply route, two vehicles, one command and control center, one mortar, one explosive manufacturing facility, one compound and one staging area.
On Oct. 29 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted seven strikes consisting of eight engagements against ISIS targets. Near Hajin, eight strikes engaged 10 tactical units, and destroyed two weapons caches, one vehicle borne IED, one vehicle, one command and control center, and one fighting position.
On Oct. 30 in Syria, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of 20 engagements against an ISIS targets. Near Hajin, six strikes engaged six tactical units, and destroyed nine vehicles, seven supply routes, and one vehicle borne IED."
On Sunday 28 October, a Reaper conducted armed reconnaissance over the Abu Kamal area, and carried out a successful attack with a Hellfire missile, striking a group of terrorists spotted manoeuvring through fields.
Royal Air Force aircraft have continued to provide close air support to the Syrian Democratic Forces attacking the one significant remaining area held by Daesh in eastern Syria. A Reaper remotely piloted aircraft responded to reports of a terrorist team planting improvised explosive devices north of Hajin on Monday 29 October; its crew were able to spot evidence of their activity around a large fuel tank positioned next to a road. Having checked that there were no signs of any civilians in the immediate area who might be placed at risk, the Reaper’s crew fired a single Hellfire missile, which safely destroyed the booby-trapped fuel tank.
For Oct 24th-30th, France report that the three CAESAR guns of Task Force Wagram have conducted 6 firing missions from Iraqi territory. Aircraft carried out 18 sorties and four strikes north of Abu Kamal, Syria.
CHAMMAL SITUATION MILITAIRE DU THEATRE Offensive contre les dernières poches de Daech en Syrie L’opération pour reprendre la poche d’Hajine dans la moyenne vallée de l’Euphrate, lancée le 10 septembre, se poursuit. Daech a profité des mauvaises conditions météorologiques pour mener des contre-attaques cette semaine et reprendre du terrain aux forces démocratiques syriennes. Poursuite des actions de sécurisation en Irak En Irak, les opérations de sécurisation des forces de sécurité irakiennes (FSI) se poursuivent. ACTIVITÉ DE LA FORCE Le dispositif français déployé au Levant n’a pas évolué. La Task Force Wagram en appui de l’offensive contre les dernières poches de Daech présentes dans la vallée de l’Euphrate. La Task Force Wagram appuie l’offensive des forces démocratiques syriennes contre Daech dans la région d’Hajine. Les trois canons CAESAR ont ainsi réalisé, depuis le territoire irakien, 6 missions de tir (éclairement, harcèlement, destruction – bilan du 24 au 30 octobre inclus). Depuis le début de son engagement, la Task Force Wagram a réalisé 1998 missions de tirs. Les bases aériennes en Jordanie et aux EAU en appui des opérations Au sein de la coalition, les aéronefs français basés en Jordanie et aux Émirats arabes unis poursuivent leurs actions contre Daech. Cette semaine, les aéronefs de l’opération Chammal ont réalisé 18 sorties aériennes (bilan du 24 au 30 octobre inclus) et conduit 4 frappes, en appui des FDS au nord d’Abou Kamal en Syrie. Bilan total de l’action du pilier appui aérien depuis le 19/09/14 : 8600 sorties / 1476 frappes / 2275 objectifs neutralisés.
For October 24th – 31st, Dutch MoD reports that Dutch F-16s supported ground troops during nine missions. Weapons were deployed in four: near Abu Kamal, Deir Ezzor governorate, Syria and near Mosul, Nineveh province, Iraq. Targets were ISIS warehouses and vehicles.
‘In de strijd tegen terreurorganisatie ISIS ondersteunden Nederlandse F-16’s grondtroepen tijdens 9 missies. Bij 4 zijn wapens ingezet. Een overzicht van Defensieoperaties in de week van 24 tot 31 oktober 2018. Dat gebeurde in de provincies Deir al Zour en Ninawa, in de omgeving van Abu Kamal (Oost-Syrië) en Mosul (Irak). Doelwit waren opslagplaatsen en voertuigen van ISIS.‘