Incident Code

CS1970

Location

الصبحة, Al Sabha, Deir Ezzor, Syria

Geolocation

35.896421, 39.904919
Accuracy: Village

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: December 15, 2024

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.”

Key Information

Country
Military Actor
Strike Type
Counter-Terrorism Action (Ground)
Strike Status
Likely strike
Civilian Harm Reported
Yes
Civilian Harm Status
Fair
Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
Causes of Death / Injury
Small arms and light weapons
Civilians reported killed
0–1

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.

Military Statements

U.S.-led Coalition Assessment
Suspected belligerent
U.S.-led Coalition
U.S.-led Coalition position on incident
Not yet assessed
U.S.-led Coalition Civilian Casualty Statement
2023-11-03
Original Source
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

Media From Sources (2)