Geolocation
Airwars assessment
A civilian was injured during a declared raid carried out by CENTCOM and partner forces in Al Shahil on January 21, 2023. Up to three alleged ISIS members were also arrested during the raid.
CENTCOM released a statement that “US Central Command forces conducted a partnered helicopter and ground assault raid in eastern Syria, Jan. 21, capturing two ISIS-Syria members, Abdallah Hamid Muslih al-Maddad AKA Abu Hamza al-Suri, an ISIS facilitator, and Husam Hamid al-Muslih al-Maddad, al-Khayr, ISIS facilitator and logistician, and one associate. One civilian received minor injuries. “The injured civilian was escorted by our partner forces to a nearby medical care facility along with an accompanying family member,” said Colonel Joe Buccino, a CENTCOM spokesperson. “He received care and was released back to his family.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that during an operation carried out by the Anti-Terrorism Units with the support of International Coalition aircraft, three members of ISIS were arrested when the home of the “Al-Madad” family in the town of Al Shahil was raided. SOHR added that the operation lasted two hours and consisted of the Coalition forces asking the wanted persons to surrender via loudspeaker, however when the wanted persons refused, clashes took place.
@Sharqya_reporte tweeted that the home that was raided belongs to Hamid Al-Musleh Al-Madad and that Hisham Al-Hamid Al-Musleh was arrested for unknown reasons. @HamamIssa7 added that Majid Kamel Al Musleh and the son of Subh Al-Musleh, 13 years old, were also arrested.
Halab Today TV added that Abd Hamed Al-Musleh was also arrested, and that a fourth person escaped from the raid – Hisham Al-Hamid Al-Musleh. According to Halab Today, all men arrested are cousins of Hisham, who was residing in the city of Ras Al-Ain before coming back to Al Shahil and that Hisham is a close associate of Sabahi Ibrahim al-Musleh, an alleged member of ISIS who was killed by an air strike carried out by the Coalition in October 2022 in the city of Ras al-Ain.
A tweet from @nahermedia reported that on February 19th, a Coalition helicopter released Majid Kamel Al-Musleh Al-Medad on the outskirts of the town of Al Shahil after being held for a month.
A local source told Al Araby that “the operation was accompanied by the sound of explosions in the area, without knowing whether any injuries occurred during the operation.” Eye of Euphrates identified machine guns from Coalition helicopters as used in conjunction with an SDF military convoy.
A tweet from @alsharqia24news identified the location as being in the Al-Hawi area of Al Shahil. @Rian_almasri stated that following the raid, the Coalition forces headed towards the Al-Omar oil field.
In the Department of Defense’s 2023 annual report on civilian casualties (1057 report), released December 20, 2024, the US military provided additional information about the incident which resulted in the civilian injury: Incident #1 occurred January 21-22, 2023 during period of darkness in Shuhayl, Syria. Mayadin is the closest major city. Incident #1 resulted in one child being injured. The type of operation conducted was a ground raid, under the authority of the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force [“2001 AUMF”]. During this raid, it is more likely than not that the child’s injuries were a result of shattered glass from a non-lethal breaching munition used by Coalition forces. These injuries were treated on site then moved to a medical facility. Coalition forces who were on site for the entire duration of the operation self-reported this incident. Because U.S. forces were present at the site, no witnesses were interviewed. DoD received no reports from the public or NGO sources for this incident.”
The incident occured around midnight.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the Al Hawi (الحاوي) area of the town of Al Shahil (الشحيل), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.104756, 40.456084. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (25) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (3) [ collapse]
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Statement from CENTCOM
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Image of the alleged ISIS members detained during a raid by the SDF and Coalition on January 22, 2023. (Image posted by Euphrates Post)
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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Incident #1 occurred January 21-22, 2023 during period of darkness in Shuhayl, Syria. Mayadin is the closest major city. Incident #1 resulted in one child being injured. The type of operation conducted was a ground raid, under the authority of the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force [“2001 AUMF”]. During this raid, it is more likely than not that the child’s injuries were a result of shattered glass from a non-lethal breaching munition used by Coalition forces. These injuries were treated on site then moved to a medical facility. Coalition forces who were on site for the entire duration of the operation self-reported this incident. Because U.S. forces were present at the site, no witnesses were interviewed. DoD received no reports from the public or NGO sources for this incident.
Original strike reports
US Central Command forces conducted a partnered helicopter and ground assault raid in eastern Syria, Jan. 21, capturing two ISIS-Syria members, Abdallah Hamid Muslih al-Maddad AKA Abu Hamza al-Suri, an ISIS facilitator, and Husam Hamid al-Muslih al-Maddad, al-Khayr, ISIS facilitator and logistician, and one associate. One civilian received minor injuries.
"The injured civilian was escorted by our partner forces to a nearby medical care facility along with an accompanying family member," said Colonel Joe Buccino, a CENTCOM spokesperson. "He received care and was released back to his family."
"This operation reaffirms CENTCOM's steadfast commitment to the region and the enduring defeat of ISIS," said Buccino. "The capture will disrupt the terrorist organization's ability to further plot and carry out attacks that threaten regional security and stability."
"ISIS represents a threat to our partners and to the people of Iraq and Syria and beyond," he added. "Our mission to defeat ISIS alongside our Syrian Democratic Forces partners continues."