Geolocation
Airwars assessment
One civilian died in an airstrike on al Basira, according to local media – though sources were conflicted as to whether the Coalition, Russia or the regime were to blame. Reports said that the strikes hit to post office building.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Moen_dndil attributed the event to the Coalition. However, Micro Syria blamed Russia, reporting that “A child was also killed in an air strike on the town of Khasham and another civilian in an air strike on the town of al-Basira in the eastern suburb of Deir al-Zour. Activists accused Russian aircraft of carrying out the raids.” The Euphrates Post also pointed towards Russia.
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights and Qasioun, the regime was to blame.
Some other sources didn’t identify the warplanes responsible.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (32) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]
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wad Hassan Al-Sarout from the town of Al-Shuhail, killed in a strike on Al-Basira, Sept 14th (via Euphrates Post)
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention that the airstrike targeted the Ka’a al-Attal/Koo Attal area (outskirts) and the Al Barid (post office building) in the village of Busayrah (البصیرة). The coordinates for this village are: 35.15618, 40.42716. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify these locations further
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 September 13th-14th, the Coalition reported: “Near Dayr Az Zawr, nine strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed two tactical vehicles, an ISIS fuel station and a fighting position.”
For September 14th - 15th, the Coalition reported: "Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two vehicles". It later reported, "On Sept. 14, near Dayr Az Zawr, Syria six strikes destroyed an ISIS UAS, a fighting position, an ISIS supply route and suppressed three fighting positions"
‘Friday 15 September – a Reaper supported coalition airstrikes near Dayr az Zawr, and delivered two attacks itself against extremists in the open, whilst Typhoons destroyed a Daesh-held building… On Friday 15 September, a Reaper was again very active north-east of Dayr az Zawr; it provided support to coalition airstrikes which destroyed three Daesh-held buildings, then conducted two attacks on its own account with Hellfire missiles against terrorists moving through the area. Nearby, a Typhoon flight bombed a further Daesh-held building.’