Geolocation
Airwars assessment
As many as 37 civilians were killed, and between 12 and 50 were wounded, following an airstrike on Salqeen – according to local sources. Up to 17 children and five women were allegedly killed in this raid on the residential neighbourhood. According to Euphrates Post, “four of them a family from eastern Deir Ezzor”. The number of dead was reportedly likely to rise due to the severity of some of the wounded.
Sources were conflicted as to who was to blame. Many blamed Russia for the strikes, and others blamed the Syrian regime, however Qasioun News blamed the International Coalition for the raid; they were the only source to attribute blame to the Coalition.
Multiple sources such as Orient News, reported that warplanes “targeted a school, mosque and a popular market in the city of Salqeen”. The Syrian Network for Human Rights named al Rawda Mosque. Unayyapress amongst others, reported that residential buildings were also struck, trapping many civilians under the rubble. They added that more than one missile “targeted” the area “which led to the collapse of parts of buildings over the heads of its inhabitants”. Syria News Desk additionally reported that a clock tower was also caught in the raid and partially destroyed.
The wounded were allegedly taken to medical facilities in other parts of Idlib.
Multiple sources, including the Step News Agency, reported that vacuum missiles were responsible for the destruction on the vicinity.
In their June 2020 civilian casualty report, the US-led Coalition assessed reports that they were responsible for civilian harm in this strike as “non-credible”, stating that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area at that time.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Salqeen (سلقين), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.13951, 36.45413. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (39) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (18) [ collapse]
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Rubble which once was a mosque, in the aftermath of airstrikes on Salqeen, 4th April 2017. (via SN4HR)
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The aftermath of airstrikes on Salqeen, 4th April 2017. (via Smart)
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The aftermath of airstrikes on Salqeen, 4th April 2017. (via Smart)
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The aftermath of airstrikes on Salqeen, 4th April 2017. (via Smart)
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The aftermath of airstrikes on Salqeen, 4th April 2017. (via Smart)
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The aftermath of airstrikes on Salqeen, 4th April 2017. (via Smart)
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The aftermath of airstrikes on Salqeen, 4th April 2017. (via @ShahbaPress)
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The aftermath of airstrikes on Salqeen, 4th April 2017. (via @ShahbaPress)
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The aftermath of airstrikes on Salqeen, 4th April 2017. (via @ShahbaPress)
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The aftermath of airstrikes on Salqeen, 4th April 2017. (via @ShahbaPress)
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The aftermath of airstrikes on Salqeen, 4th April 2017. (via @DarAlimantv)
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The aftermath of airstrikes on Salqeen, 4th April 2017. (via @DarAlimantv)
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The aftermath of airstrikes on Salqeen, 4th April 2017. (via @DarAlimantv)
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The aftermath of airstrikes on Salqeen, 4th April 2017. (via @DarAlimantv)
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The aftermath of airstrikes on Salqeen, 4th April 2017. (via @ALAMAWI)
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.
Russian Military Assessment:
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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Apr. 4, 2017, in Salqeen, Syria, via Airwars report. After a review of all available records it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties. 3097/CS662a 37SBA709024