Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1939

Incident date

December 3, 2019

Location

أطمة, Atma, Idlib, Syria

Geolocation

36.307309, 36.689379 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

A militant leader, named as Abu Ahmed al-Muhajir, was killed when his vehicle was reportedly struck by the US-led Coalition, local sources said. Reports added that two of Abu Ahmed al-Muhajir’s “companions” also died in the strike, though their combat status was unclear.

A private source told Baladi News: “A reconnaissance plane ammunition by the coalition forces targeted a van in the town of Atma, adjacent to the borderline with Turkey with three missiles, believed to be American-made.

“A leader of the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham was killed this evening, Tuesday, after targeting his car in the town of Atma, which borders the border with Turkey in the northern Idlib countryside, through a drone of the coalition forces.”

Ebaa and Xeber both reported “the killing of a prominent leader and two of his companions.”

According to The Step News Agency, “A aircraft believed to be belonging to the International Coalition targeting a van-type car in the city of Atma, North Idlib, which killed the driver of the car without information about his identity yet”.

Step added that the strike was reportedly by a drone, and it occurred in “Rawda Street”.

The combat status of the Tahrir al-Sham leader’s companions is currently unclear. For example, Orient reported: “The identity of the dead was not yet clear, and that preliminary information indicates that the bombing operation resulted in a major mutilation of the bodies of the two targeted individuals.”

In the third of their September 2020 civilian casualty reports, the US-led Coalition assessed reports that they were responsible for civilian harm in this strike as “non-credible”, stating that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area at that time.

The incident occured during the night.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0 – 2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    US-led Coalition
  • Belligerents reported killed
    1–3

Sources (23) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]

  • Image showing the targeted vehicle (via Baladi)
  • Paper showing the person killed in the attack is a military training with HTS (via Jesr Press)

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention a strike on a vehicle in the village of Atma (أطمة), for which the coordinates are: 36.307309, 36.689379

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Non credible / Unsubstantiated
    Insufficient information to assess that, more likely than not, a Coalition strike resulted in civilian casualties.
  • Reason for non-credible assessment
    No Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area
  • Civilian deaths conceded
    None
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    None
  • MGRS coordinate
    37SBA925205
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Sep 14, 2020
  • Dec. 3, 2019, in Idlib, 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. 3213/CS1939 37SBA925205

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0 – 2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    US-led Coalition
  • Belligerents reported killed
    1–3

Sources (23) [ collapse]