Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS1970

Incident date

November 8, 2021

Location

الصبحة, Al Sabha, Deir Ezzor, Syria

Geolocation

35.896421, 39.904919 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

At least one man was killed in an alleged Coalition and Syrian Defense Forces airdrop operation in the town of Al-Sabha on November 8th, 2021. Sources were conflicted as to whether the man killed was a civilians or a militant.

According to Euphrates Post, the Coalition and the Syrian Defense Forces carried out an airdrop operation at dawn on November 8th, 2021, which resulted in the killing of one person and the arrest of two others.

Local sources told Euphrates that the SDF raided the house of Abdul Nahar al-Majwal (nickname Abu Jarrah), an alleged arms dealer who was shot dead while trying to escape, and arrested two of his brothers, Fahd and Suleiman. The correspondent of the Step News Agency added that Fahd’s wife was also arrested in the operation.

Eye of Euphrates reported that Abu Jarrah was smuggling weapons to the Syrian regime and that he was killed by a bullet in his chest while a tweet from @Sada_AlSharqieh mentioned that Abu Jarrah had been accused of belong to ISIS and North Press Agency referred to him as a leader of ISIS. However, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights identified Abu Jarrah’s brother as being “a former weapons merchant arrested for dealing with ISIS” without mentioning that Abu Jarrah was associated with any militant activities.

@baznewz also referred to Abu Jarrah and his brother as formerly involved with ISIS and arms smuggling. Syrian Arab News Agency also reported that the two people killed in operations in al-Sabha and Fenijil (incident CS1970) were civilians and that the three people arrested in al-Sabha were civilians.

The operation lasted from 1:30am to around 2:30am.

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’s strike and operation history, no strike or operation was identified +/-24 hours, in the vicinity of the allegation.”

The incident occured at 01:30:00 local time.

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

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Counter-Terrorism Action (Ground)
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0 – 1
  • Cause of injury / death
    Small arms and light weapons
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerents
    US-led Coalition, Syrian Democratic Forces
  • Suspected target
    ISIS
  • Belligerents reported killed
    0–1

Sources (20) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • Abdul Nahar al-Majwal (nickname Abu Jarrah), an alleged arms dealer who was shot dead in the town of Al-Sabha on November 8, 2021. (Image posted by Eye of Euphrates)

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Nov 3, 2023
  • November 08, 2021, near Al Sabha, Syria, via Airwars report. After a thorough review of all CJTF-OIR’s strike and operation history, no strike or operation was identified +/-24 hours, in the vicinity of the allegation. 3315/CS1970 37SEV8166572838

Syrian Democratic Forces Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Democratic Forces
  • Syrian Democratic Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Counter-Terrorism Action (Ground)
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0 – 1
  • Cause of injury / death
    Small arms and light weapons
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerents
    US-led Coalition, Syrian Democratic Forces
  • Suspected target
    ISIS
  • Belligerents reported killed
    0–1

Sources (20) [ collapse]