Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1889a

Incident date

January 20, 2019

Location

Ash Shajilah, Deir Ezzor, Syria

Geolocation

34.47787, 40.96768 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Within 100m (via Coalition) level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

In an incident previously not tracked by Airwars, the Coalition later confirmed the injuries of two civilians near Ash Shajilah, Syria. This was later confirmed to be a US-only civilian harm event.

In its July 2019 civilian casualty report the Coalition noted the following: “Coalition aircraft conducted an airstrike against Daesh terrorists. Regrettably, two civilians were unintentionally wounded due to the proximity of the strike.”

The Coalition provided Airwars with the location of this incident accurate to within a 100 metre box.

In its annual report to Congress in May 2020, the Pentagon confirmed this as a US-only civilian harm event.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Geolocation notes

The Coalition released the MGRS for this incident as 37SFU807169

Summary

  • Strike status
    Declared strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Confirmed
    A specific belligerent has accepted responsibility for civilian harm.
  • Known belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • Known target
    ISIS

Sources (2) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • Table of US-only civilian harm events in Iraq and Syria for 2019, declared by the Pentagon to Congress in May 2020.

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Known belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Credible / Substantiated
    The investigation assessed that although all feasible precautions were taken and the decision to strike complied with the law of armed conflict, unintended civilian casualties regrettably occurred.
  • Given reason for civilian harm
    Other
    Airwars’ assessment of belligerent’s civilian casualty statement
  • Initial Airwars grading
    Previously unknown
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    2
  • Stated location
    near Ash Shajilah, Syria
    Nearest population center
  • Location accuracy
    100 m
  • MGRS coordinate
    37SFU807169
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Jul 26, 2019
  • Jan. 20, 2019, near Ash Shajilah, Syria, via self-report. Coalition aircraft conducted an airstrike against Daesh terrorists. Regrettably, two civilians were unintentionally wounded due to the proximity of the strike.

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

Between Jan. 13 - 26, 2019, CJTF-OIR conducted 645 strikes consisting of 1,360 engagements in Syria, and
conducted nine strikes consisting of 12 engagements in Iraq.

In Syria, 645 strikes engaged 394 ISIS tactical units, and destroyed 244 fighting positions, 172 supply routes, 85
staging areas, 21 vehicles, 17 buildings, 15 vehicle borne improvised explosive devices, 14 mortar launching sites,
13 manufacturing facilities for improvised explosive devices, 12 command and control nodes, nine tunnels, eight
weapons caches, seven pieces of engineering equipment, five launching sites for unmanned aircraft systems, two
weapons storage facilities, two mortar tubes, two improvised explosive devices, one unmanned aircraft system,
one machine gun, one logistic node and one check point.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Declared strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Confirmed
    A specific belligerent has accepted responsibility for civilian harm.
  • Known belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • Known target
    ISIS

Sources (2) [ collapse]