(Previous Incident Codes: S280R1154)

In what was widely reported as a Russian action, at least 27 civilians died and more than 70 were injured following airstrikes on Al Mayadeen.

Almost all sources including Daesh blamed Russia. Deir Ezzor is Being Slaughtered said 6 Russian planes carried out 20 strikes between them, including on a children’s playground. Shaam News added that “Activists said the Russian air force targeted several areas in the city with cluster bombs, which spread over large areas near the National Hospital and the School of Abdul-Jabbar Al Obeid and near al Rahba fortress and the garage area downtown.”

However the Syrian Network blamed the Assad regime for the attacks. And while only one minor source blamed the US-led alliance for the attack, on September 9th the Coalition had leafleted al Mayadeen warning of impending airstrikes.

In their May 2020 civilian casualty report, 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.