Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Between eight and ten civilians died and up to 16 others were wounded in an airstrike on Maskana, according to local sources – though field reports were conflicted as to whether this was the work of the Coalition, the Syrian regime or Russia. The Coalition later denied involvement.
Syria News said that “According to activists, the international coalition bombed the neighborhood Rihaniyya in Maskana, resulting in eight martyrs and the presence of dozens of wounded under the rubble, including women and children”.
Qasioun also pointed towards the Coalition, putting the death toll at ten.
In a video for Al Jisr TV, a reporter says that Russia and the regime were to blame, putting the death toll at eight with 16 more injured.
The Step News Agency and Smart blamed Russia, while RFS Media said that the regime was responsible.
Maskana Halab reported that “eight displaced people including women and children killed as a result of an air raid targeting a house in al Rihaniya in Maskana” – though they didn’t indentify the culprit.
According to Syria News Desk – which attributed the event to Russia and the regime – “a civilian source from Maskana who declined to be identified said that the strikes destroyed at least five houses and two stores on the east side of the highway district Rihaniyya, in addition to the burning of two houses and two cars.”
On April 30th 2017 the Coalition said it had classed the event as ‘not credible’: “March 12, 2017, near Maskana, Syria, via social media report: No Coalition strikes were conducted on that day in the geographic area of the reported civilian casualties.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Maskanah, Aleppo (مسكنة), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.963172, 38.035655. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (14) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]
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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No Coalition strikes were conducted on that day in the geographic area of the reported civilian casualties.
Original strike reports
The Coalition has not publicly reported any strikes in Aleppo governorate between March 11th-13th.
Russian Military Assessment:
Original strike reports
Russia has not reported any strikes between March 1st – 31st 2017.