Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Local sources reported that three ISIS family members were killed when air and artillery strikes allegedly struck an IDP camp on the outskirts of Al Baghouz. The incident occurred on the evening of March 2nd. A number of sources said the victims were Russian. Khawlan ibn Al Sinia named the family as that of ‘Mu’az the Russian.’
According to all but one source, a woman and two children were among the victims. Step News reported that the woman was the mother of the children. Baladi News was the only source that claimed all three victims were children. An unspecified number of other people were reported injured. Deir Ezzor 24 blamed both SDF artillery and Coalition airstrikes.
According to one source whose Twitter account was later suspended, the Russian father of the children was himself also killed shortly afterwards in another Coalition strike.
In its monthly civilian harm report issued January 3rd 2020, the Coalition conceded a self-reported civilian harm event near al Baghouz on this date. However, officials confirmed to Airwars that “This [CS1901] appears to be a separate event and will be assessed that way going forward.”
In a civilian casualty assessment released July 10th 2021, the Coalition classed this event as ‘non credible’, claiming that “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.”
The incident occured between 7:00 pm and 11:59 pm local time.
The victims were named as:
Family members (3)
Summary
Sources (7) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (3) [ collapse]
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Screen capture of a suspended twitter account, claiming that the pictured Russian male was killed in a Coalition strike several hours after his daughter died
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According to Khawlan ibn Al Sinia, the smaller hole in the pit was meant for the daughter of the Mu'az family who was killed in an alleged Coalition airstrike on March 2nd 2019 (via Khawlan ibn Al Sinia).
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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Mar. 2, 2019, in al Baghouz, Syria, via Airwars report. 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. 3282/CS1901 37SFU794135
Original strike reports
Between Feb. 24 - March 9, 2019, CJTF-OIR conducted 99 strikes consisting of 139 engagements against Daesh targets in Syria and Iraq.In Syria, CJTF-OIR conducted 97 strikes consisting of 137 engagements, engaged 228 Daesh tactical units, and destroyed 71 tactical vehicles, 35 vehicle borne improvised explosive devices, 17 supply routes, 11 fighting positions, 10 weapons caches, eight staging areas, four command and control nodes, two tunnels, two heavy machine guns, one anti-aircraft gun, one fuel tanker, and one boat.
Saturday 2 March – a Reaper killed a small group of terrorists around Baghuz Fawqani in eastern Syria...A Reaper provided close air support to the Syrian Democratic Forces as they fought Daesh around Baghuz Fawqani on Saturday 2 March. The Reaper’s crew observed a rocket-propelled grenade being fired from a building, and shortly afterwards a small group of armed terrorists emerged. They were tracked by the Reaper, whilst careful checks were made that no SDF or otherwise unidentified individuals were too close to them, then successfully engaged with a single Hellfire missile.
For February 27th to March 5th, French MoD report 4 firing missions from the Iraqi territory by Task Force Wagram. Aircraft carried out 18 sorties. There was one strike.
CHAMMALSituation militaire du théâtreOffensive contre les dernières poches de Daech en SyrieEn moyenne vallée de l’Euphrate, les combats menés par les Forces démocratiques syriennes, appuyées par la coalition, se poursuivent autour de la ville de Baghouz.Poursuite des actions en IrakLa situation sécuritaire reste stable. Les Forces de sécurité intérieures poursuivent leur effort dans la lutte contre Daech.ACTIVITÉ DE LA FORCELe 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’EuphrateLa Task Force (TF) Wagram continue d’appuyer les forces démocratiques syriennes contre Daech au sud de la ville d’Hajin.La TF Wagram a réalisé, depuis le territoire irakien 4 missions de tir (soit 1 mission d’aveuglement et 3 missions de certification – bilan du 27 février au 05 mars inclus).Les bases aériennes en Jordanie et aux EAU en appui des opérationsLes aéronefs français basés en Jordanie et aux Émirats arabes unis poursuivent leurs actions contre Daech, au sein de la coalition.Cette semaine, les aéronefs de l’opération Chammal ont réalisé 18 sorties aériennes (bilan du 27 février au 05 mars inclus). Les Rafale français ont conduit une frappe cette semaine.