Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Dozens of civilians were reported killed and injured in an alleged Coalition airstrike on a ferry crossing near the village of Al Subha, according to local sources. However the alliance later said its nearest airstrike that day had been 17km distant.
Al Hilal reported: “Ghazi Said, a resident of the eastern village of Deir Al-Zour, told Al-Hilal that the Coalition aircraft carried out more than two raids on the water crossing in the village of Al-Subha, which connects it with the village of the Bulail at the opposite end of the Euphrates River. Civilians, including two displaced Iraqis, were killed others were wounded.” According to Qasioun, “international Coalition fighters targeted the town with an air raid, noting that the air bombardment caused the death and wounding dozens of civilians, at the waterfront crossing used by the local population as an alternative to cement bridges destroyed by the coalition earlier.”
Surihur1 and Alikarrkar reported that the death toll had reached over 50. Other sources, including Euphrates Post reported the strike but didn’t identify the culprit.
The following day, Asharqiya reported that “a number of bodies were pulled from the Euphrates river in al Subha, most of them Iraqis, due to yesterday’s raids on the water crossing.”
In its June 2017 report the Coalition denied responsibility for the attack: “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 assessed coordinates matched those of al Subha.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Al Subha (الصبحة), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.2970537, 40.2363968. 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 (1) [ collapse]
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Site of an alleged Copalition strike on a ferry crossing at al Subha which was said to have killed up to 50 civilians (via 7al,net)
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 March 28th-29th, the Coalition reported: “Near Dayr Az Zawr, seven strikes destroyed nine ISIS well heads, a pump jack, and a barge."
For March 29th-30th, the Coalition reported: "Near Dayr Az Zawr, six strikes destroyed six ISIS oil tanker trucks, five well heads, two pump jacks, and an oil inlet manifold."