Geolocation
Airwars assessment
A male civilian, co-chair of the Deir Ezzor Civil Council, was shot and killed by alleged Coalition forces and/or Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in on October 27, 2021.
According to a tweet from @Sada_AlSharqieh, a media organization covering Eastern Syria, Samer Al-Abdullah, the co-chair of the Deir Ezzor Civil Council, in charge of running the affairs of the Health Committee in the Council, was killed in an airdrop operation carried out by the Coalition forces and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
@DeirEzzor24 reported that Samer Al-Abdullah was killed by mistake when SDF forces were searching for a wanted person, adding that Samer was a member of the Future Syria Party affiliated with the administration.
The correspondent of the “Ein al-Furat” network said that the SDF Asayish carried out a landing operation to arrest a person named Shayesh al-Hassan. “When al-Hassan fled, the deputy co-presidency of the Deir Ezzor Civil Council, in charge of the affairs of the Health Committee, left his house, thinking that the shooting was on his house and that he should flee from it, which prompted the Asayish forces to shoot him, killing him instantly.” @baznewz named the target of the operation to be the sons of “Salem al-Baghdeh,” Abu Younis, a leader in the Islamic State.
However, @humam_isa reported that the shooting came after misleading information reached the Coalition forces. @Sada_AlSharqieh tweeted that Samer Al-Abdullah had been threatened by several parties who wanted him to leave work in the Civil Council and Nedaa Post stated that the SDF had arrested other members of the council. Ida2at even added that there were accusations that the SDF intended to kill Samer and it was part of an “assassination operation”. The “Al-Shaitat official” page quoted a source as saying that “Al-Abdullah is an educated person who knows that anyone who goes out during a raid or landing operation is targeted, and therefore he will not put himself at risk to look at the raid, which makes it likely that the cadres will arrange the operation to get rid of him.”
Sources were conflicted as to what time the event occurred, with @EuphratesPost pinpointing the raid to dawn while Jisr TV reported that the shooting occurred in the evening.
In a civilian casualty assessment released November 3, 2023, the Coalition classed this event as ‘non credible’, claiming that “After a thorough review of all CJTF-OIR strike and operation history, no strike or operation was identified +/-24 hours, in the vicinity of the allegation.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Al Sabha (الصبحة), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.896421, 39.904919. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (29) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]
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Samer Al-Abdullah, the co-chair of the Deir Ezzor Civil Council, killed in an alleged Coalition airdrop operation on October 27, 2021. (Image posted by @Sada_AlSharqieh)
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Samer Al-Abdullah, the co-chair of the Deir Ezzor Civil Council, killed in an alleged Coalition airdrop operation on October 27, 2021. (Image posted by @DeirEzzorNow)
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The official in the Civil Council of the "Self-Administration", Samer Al-Abdullah, was killed "by mistake", during a raid carried out by the international coalition forces and "SDF" near his house in a town in Deir ez-Zor governorate, targeting ISIS cells. (Image posted by @AsharqNewsSYR)
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Graphic image of Samer Al-Abdullah, the co-chair of the Deir Ezzor Civil Council, killed in an alleged Coalition airdrop operation on October 27, 2021. (Image posted by @baznewz)
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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October 27, 2021, near Al Sabha, Syria, via Airwars report. After a thorough review of all CJTF-OIR strike and operation history, no strike or operation was identified +/-24 hours, in the vicinity of the allegation. 3313/CS1968 37SEV8166572838