Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Up to four civilians were killed in alleged Coalition or Turkish airstrikes, according to sources.
The Syrian Network noted that “four civilians (2 children and their parents) died when International Coalition warplanes missiles fired on Baza’a city in Aleppo governorate eastern suburbs.”
However according to Ara News, “A statement issued by the Presidency of the Turkish General Staff said on Friday ‘Fighter jets belonging to the Turkish Air Force were able during the raids carried out on Thursday to neutralize 22 terrorists and destroy 272 objectives in al Bab city and the town of Baza’a in northern Syria, including 21 shelters for ISIL, a centralized command and an ammunition store’.”
The Syrian Observatory also blamed Ankara: “A child and a woman were martyred in Turkish raids on Baza’a and in Turkish artillery on al Bab.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (6) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Al Baza’a (البزاعة), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.3829071, 37.56666. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
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 that correspond to the report of civilian casualties.
Original strike reports
For January 26th-27th the Coalition publicly noted no strikes in Aleppo governorate, and likewise for January 27th-28th.