Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS379

Incident date

November 18, 2016

Location

باتبو, Batabo, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.13447, 36.73979 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

A unilateral US airstrike on a Fatah al Sham leader may also have killed up to three members of his immediate family.

The Syrian Observatory initially reported that “an unidentified plane – it’s not clear whether international coalition or Russian – targeted a car carrying several people near the town of Batabo in the western countryside of Aleppo, killing 3 people, whose identities are not yet known.”

It later emerged that Fatah al Sham leader Abu Afghan al Masri – described as the group’s legal [sharia] expert – was the target. According to All 4 Syria a second man named as Abu Sahib al Libnani also died with a third unknown person. A Pentagon statement later noted: “U.S. forces conducted a precision airstrike near Sarmada, Syria, on Nov. 18 that killed Abu Afghan al-Masri, a senior al-Qaeda in Syria leader.“

However, Al Jazeera reported that al Masri’s wife and daughter died with him in the car.

On March 10, 2022 in the CJTF-OIR Civilian Casualty Report, the Coalition reported this incident to be “non-credible”, stating that “After review of all available evidence it was determined that more likely than not civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition strike.”

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (2)

Age unknown female killed
Age unknown female killed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • (1 child1 woman)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attacker
    US-led Coalition

Sources (6) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (3) [ collapse]

  • Thevehicle carrying Abu Afghan al Masri, destroyed in a US targeted killing on November 18th 2016 (via All 4 Syria)
  • Abu al Afghan al Masri - the shariaa expert of Fatah al Sham killed in a raid west of Aleppo (via SNHR)
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Body bags of those killed in the raid (via SNHR)

Geolocation notes

Coordinates released by the Coalition place the event at 36.13447, 36.73978

CJTF–OIR Declassified Assessment and Press Release

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.

Declassified Assessment Press Release

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Open incident
  • Stated location
    near Batabo, Syria
    Nearest population center
  • Location accuracy
    1 m
  • MGRS coordinate
    37SBA9662201229
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Mar 10, 2022
  • Nov. 18, 2016, near Batabo, Syria, via Airwars report. After review of all available evidence it was determined that more likely than not civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition strike. 3075/CS379 37SBA9662201229

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For November 18th-19th, the Coalition reported: “Near Tamakh, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.”

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2
  • (1 child1 woman)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attacker
    US-led Coalition

Sources (6) [ collapse]