Incident Code

CS1891

Location

الباغوز, Between Al-Baghuz Fawqani town and Al-Marashdah village, Deir Ezzor, Syria

Geolocation

34.4641667, 40.9452778
Accuracy: Neighbourhood/area

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: December 15, 2024

(Previous Incident Code: S1767)

An alleged Coalition airstrike killed a total of 42 people, including 13 civilians in addition to 29 members of ISIS according to local reports.

Among other sources, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the Coalition “shelled places on the eastern banks of the Euphrates River, in the eastern sector of Deir Ezzor countryside, where the shelling targeted farms between Al-Baghuz Fawqani town and Al-Marashdah village during the last night.”

The Observatory added that seven civilian victims were from the same Syrian family, of whom three were children. The other six non-combatant victims were men of Iraqi nationality. The death toll was expected to increase because of an unspecified number of civilian casualties with serious injuries.

Syria LiveMap reported seven civilian deaths, which it said took place on the edge of al Baghouz around dawn.

One named ISIS fighter, Bashar al-Ajami, was also reported killed. He was identified as a commander of the al-Hesbah organization, allied to ISIS.

In its monthly civilian casualty report for October 2019 – published on December 5th of that year – the Coalition conceded the killing of three civilians and the injuring of a fourth in a strike near Marashdah.

According to the report, “January 25, 2019, near Marashidah, Syria, via self-report. Coalition aircraft conducted an airstrike against a Daesh vehicle. Regrettably, three civilians were unintentionally killed and one civilian was unintentionally wounded as a result of the strike. 2664 37SFU781164”.

Asked whether this might be a match for this incident, a Coalition official told Airwars: “Looking at the two reports, there is a chance these two are related as your report mentions some corroborating information, however it appears that this [Airwars] report is an aggregate of incidents and thus it is difficult to single out specific incidents with any certainty.”

Because of our inability to dis-aggregate this event, Airwars has created a separate civilian harm assessment for the confirmed Coalition event [CS1891a]. We have also modified this civilian casualty range to avoid double counting.

On March 10, 2022 in the CJTF-OIR Civilian Casualty Report, the Coalition reported this incident to be “non-credible”, stating that “After review of all available evidence it was determined that more likely than not civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition strike.” The coordinates provided are different than CS1891a, confirming that the Coalition was declaring a separate event.

Key Information

Country
Military Actor
Strike Type
Airstrike
Strike Status
Declared strike
Civilian Harm Reported
Yes
Civilian Harm Status
Fair
Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
Causes of Death / Injury
Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
Civilians reported killed
10–13
3 Children, 1–2 Women, 6–7 Men
Civilians reported injured
3–10

Military Statements

U.S.-led Coalition Assessment
Known belligerent
U.S.-led Coalition
U.S.-led Coalition position on incident
Open incident
Civilian deaths conceded
None
Civilian injuries conceded
None
Stated location
near al Baghouz, Syria
Location accuracy
1 m
MGRS coordinate
37SFU77772017798
U.S.-led Coalition Strike Report
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 catches, 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.
French Military Strike Report
For Jan 23rd-29th, France report that French Rafales conducted 7 strikes south of Hajin on ISIS fighters in the mid-Euphrates Valley.
U.S.-led Coalition Civilian Casualty Statement
2022-03-10
Original Source
Jan. 25, 2019, near al Baghouz, Syria, via Airwars report. After review of all available evidence it was determined that more likely than not civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition strike. 2934/CS1891 37SFU77772017798