Incident Code

CS1948

Location

الطريق بين بنش ادلب, Road between Idlib and Binnish, Idlib, Syria

Geolocation

35.948631, 36.672105
Accuracy: Neighbourhood/area

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: December 15, 2024

A civilian was reportedly killed in alleged US-led Coalition or Turkish drone strikes on the road between Idlib city and Binnish, Idlib governorate, on June 24th, 2020, according to local sources.

The Syrian Civil Defence in Idlib told Smart New Agency that “an ammunition drone had targeted a Santa Fe car with missiles and destroyed it completely, indicating the death of an unidentified person inside.” The SCD added that another unidentified person, thought to be a civilian, was killed as he was riding his motorbike in the vicinity of the explosion. SCD teams worked to extinguish the fire and collected the human remains.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, “a civilian on a motorcycle was killed near the site where a drone targeted a military vehicle driven by a commander in the Ethbatu operations room on the road between Idlib and Binish. The attack killed the commander instantly.”

While the SOHR initially reported that the US-Coalition had likely been responsible, it later wrote that “sources suggested that the drone that targeted the commander was Turkish, while a Coalition drone was flying over Idlib coinciding with the attack.”

Smart News Agency and @HoseenAdnan reported that the killed militant was Abu Adnan Al Homsi from the Al Qaida linked group Hurras Al Din.

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.

Key Information

Country
Military Actor
Strike Type
Airstrike (Drone Strike)
Strike Status
Contested strike
Civilian Harm Reported
Yes
Civilian Harm Status
Contested
Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
Causes of Death / Injury
Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
Civilians reported killed
1

Geolocation Notes

Reports of the incident mention a vehicle being struck on a road between Idlib (إدلب‎) and Binnish (بنش) to the east. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates between these two points are: 35.948631, 36.672105.

Reports of the incident mention a vehicle being struck on a road between Idlib (إدلب‎) and Binnish (بنش) to the east.

Imagery: Google Earth

Military Statements

U.S.-led Coalition Assessment
Suspected belligerent
U.S.-led Coalition
U.S.-led Coalition position on incident
Non credible / Unsubstantiated
Reason for non-credible assessment
No Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area
Civilian deaths conceded
None
Civilian injuries conceded
None
MGRS coordinate
37SBV900807
U.S.-led Coalition Civilian Casualty Statement
2020-09-14
Original Source
Jun. 24, 2020, 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. 3202/CS1948 37SBV900807
Turkish Military Assessment
Suspected belligerent
Turkish Military
Turkish Military position on incident
Not yet assessed

Media From Sources (7)