Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

CS447 TS053

Incident date

January 17, 2017

Location

تادف, Tadif, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.34857, 37.531501 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Up to thirteen civilians reportedly died in airstrikes at Tadef near al Bab, as heavy clashes continued with ISIL for control of the strategic city.

Step News, Al Bab News, Syria News Desk and the Syrian Observatory blamed Turkey for the attack, while LCCSY said Russia was responsible. The Syrian Network instead said that “8 civilians, including a girl and a woman, died in International Coalition warplanes missiles fired on Tadef city.”

However, Abdulkarim Laila (who put the death count at seven) blamed Russia – as did LCCSY.

Syria News Desk reported an eyewitness in the town as saying that “Turkish aircraft targeted homes in the main market area of the city center, explaining that most of the injured are children and the elderly, confirming the presence of 11 in serious condition. There are also three unrecognisable bodies. The source added that the raids are fully resulted in the destruction of two residential buildings and damaged a number of nearby building.”

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (6)

Ibrahim Hassan al Zein
male killed
Ahmad Juma’a al Zein
male killed
Mohammad Khalilo
male killed
Yahiya Ahmad Khalilo
male killed
the wife of Mahmoud Eido Al Khalaf
female killed
daughter of Mahmoud Eido Al Khalaf: Abd al Karim Al Sheikh Saleh
female killed

The victims were named as:

Ahmad Rahmo al Dalati
Age unknown male killed
Ahmad Wahab al Raziya
Age unknown male killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the town of Tadif (تادف), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.34857, 37.531501. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    7 – 13
  • (2 children2 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    30
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    US-led Coalition, Turkish Military, Unknown
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
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For January 16th-17th the Coalition publicly noted: “Near Al Bab, two strikes destroyed a tactical vehicle and an excavator.“
For January 17th-18th it stated: “Near Al Bab, one strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit.“

Turkish Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Turkish Military
  • Turkish Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Unknown Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Unknown
  • Unknown position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    7 – 13
  • (2 children2 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    30
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    US-led Coalition, Turkish Military, Unknown