Incident Code
Incident Code
Incident Date
Location
Geolocation
Geolocation
Airwars Assessment
(Previous Incident Code: S1751)
An alleged Coalition airstrike killed and injured a number of civilians on the morning of December 21st.
Although some sources reported that the incident took place on December 20th (when another similar incident occurred) the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights distinguished the two as separate events.
Local sources reported the killing of 27 people, mostly women and children, in addition to the wounding of dozens.
Several sources quoted the director of the Syrian Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, who reportedly said that “At least 27 people have been killed this morning in the village of Al Shaafa in air raids by the International Alliance, including 14 belonging to the families of militant fighters, including eight children.” It also cited a large number wounded. The additional 13 fatalities may therefore have been ISIS fighters.
In its January 2021 monthly civilian casualty report, the US-led Coalition determined this event to be ‘non credible’, asserting: “After a review of all available records it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties.”
Key Information
Geolocation Notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Al Shaafa town (الشعفة), for which the generic coordinates are: 34.57888, 40.93441. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.