Airwars assessment
Several local reports said that an unspecified number of members from an IS family were killed – along with a member of IS – and another civilian was wounded when a vehicle was hit in an alleged Coalition strike in Deir Ezzor.
According to RFS, “in the town of Abu Kamal the international Coalition targeted a vehicle belonging to the Daesh near the Iraqi border to the east of the city, wounding two members of ISIS who were inside, while another civilian was seriously injured.”
Euphrates Post said that “a Russian leader from IS was killed in his car along with his family when coalition warplane targeted his car in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor.”
The exact location of the strike is still not clear, though the Shaam News Network reported that the car was hit “near the town of al-Harri”.
In what may be a reference to this event, the Coalition reported in June that “March 29, 2017, near Dayr Az Zayr, Syria, via social media: No Coalition strikes were conducted on that day in the geographic area of the reported civilian casualties. The closest strike to the report of possible civilian casualties was 17 km away.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (5) [ collapse]
Attached to this civilian harm incident is the Pentagon's declassified assessment of this civilian harm allegation, obtained by Azmat Khan and the New York Times through Freedom of Information requests and lawsuits filed since March 2017, 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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The report contains insufficient information of the time, location and details to assess its credibility.
Original strike reports
For March 27th-28th, the Coalition reported: “Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes destroyed 15 ISIS barges and three well heads.
For March 28th-29th, the Coalition reported: ”Near Dayr Az Zawr, seven strikes destroyed nine ISIS well heads, a pump jack, and a barge."