Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Local sources reported that between 1 and 2 people were killed and possibly one other person injured in Tal al-Jayer when Coalition jets bombed a school and adjacent house.
In an apparent reference to the incident, the Coalition noted on December 1st 2016 that “three reports received in October are still being assessed” including “Oct. 6, 2016, near As Shaddadi, Syria.”
A local activist, Siraj al Hasskawi, posted on Facebook that “international coalition aircraft raides this afternoon the village of Tel Jayer… they targeted Tal Jayer secondary school, which led to the death of the young man Nawwaf Saad Muslah al Fadel, 28 years old, married and a father of a boy and girl.” He was identified as a civilian. Some local sources alleged that members of ISIL were holed up inside the school, but others reported that they were not present.
According to a local media activist cited by ARA News, the victim was identified as Nawaf al Muslih. Syria News Desk put the death at two civilians, and said one other was wounded.
A Coalition statement issued January 2nd 2017 noted: “Oct. 6, 2016, near al Shaddadi, Syria: After a review of available information and strike video it was assessed that no civilians were harmed in this strike.”
Given reported British actions in the area that day, Airwars flagged the incident to the UK’s MoD which said ” we can confirm that there was no UK involvement” in the event. However given the limited information given by the MoD on its strikes in Syria that day, Airwars has requested further clarification.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (10) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]
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Nawwaf Saad Muslah al Fadel (via Siraj al Hasskawi)
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Attached to this civilian harm incident is a provisional reconciliation of the Pentagon's declassified assessment of this civilian harm allegation, based on matching date and locational information.
The declassified documents were obtained by Azmat Khan and the New York Times through Freedom of Information requests and lawsuits filed since March 2017, and are included alongside the corresponding press release published by the Pentagon. Airwars is currently analysing the contents of each file, and will update our own assessments accordingly.
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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After a review of available information it was assessed that no Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area of the reported civilian casualties.
Original strike reports
For October 5th-6th the Coalition publicly reported no strikes in the vicinity.