Geolocation
Airwars assessment
As many as eight civilians, as well as six named which including medical personnel died, and others were wounded in an airstrike on Jadid Akeidat village, Deir Ez-Zour, according to local media – though reports were conflicted as to whether the US-led Coalition, the Syrian regime or Russia were responsible for the attacks. Sources reported that the strike had been on a “makeshift field hospital”, which some reports said was inside a mosque.
Qasioun put the death toll at three, while Jisr TV said as many as eight died when “Coalition forces targeted a mosque and a hospital”. According to Smart News Agency, four were killed, including “two doctors and an anesthesiologist”. It also blamed the Coalition.
However, the Syrian Network for Human Rights attributed the event to the regime. It reported that “Syrian regime warplanes fired missiles on the makeshift hospital in Jdeed Ekidat village in Deir Ez-Zour governorate eastern suburbs, killing a number of medical personnel, destroying the hospital’s building and rendering it inoperable”.
According to RFS, “eyewitnesses confirmed that at least four civilians were killed and a number of others injured by unidentified warplanes targeting a field hospital inside a mosque in the new town of Akidat, located in the eastern suburb of Deir al-Azur last night.”
But in an initial report, Baladi blamed Russia, reporting that “our correspondent, Murad Al-Ahmad, said that all indicators and military observers in Idlib confirmed that Russian aircraft targeted the hospital, resulting in the killing of most of the medical staff”. Euphrates Post also attributed the event to Russia and identified four victims by name.
However, there was some confusion in reporting, with a second Baladi report pointing towards the Coalition: “Local media sources said four civilians were killed Friday morning, including two doctors and a nurse, in air raids by an international coalition targeted at a mosque in the village of New al-Akidat”.
Free Deir Ezzor merely blamed “warplanes” and identified to victims.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Jadid Akeidat (جديد عكيدات), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.254309, 40.355344. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (16) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]
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The contested airstrikes reportedly destroyed the Grand Mosque in the town of Jadid Akidat, Der Ez-Zour, 9th June 2017. (via Euphrates Post Facebook)
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 June 7th-8th, the Coalition reported: “Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle.”
Additionally, the Coalition reported that "five strikes were conducted in Syria and Iraq on June 6 that closed within the last 24 hours", one of these: "Near Dayr Az Zawr, Syria, one strike destroyed four ISIS oil tanks"
For June 8th-9th: no strikes were publicly reported in Deir Ez-Zour governorate.