Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Belligerent
Country
start date
end date
Civilian Harm Status
Belligerent Assessment
Declassified Documents
Infrastructure

Incident Code

YS140

Incident date

July 13, 2022

Location

مريمين, Marimeen, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

35.918889, 36.413056 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Up to two civilians were injured in alleged Syrian Democratic Forces or Syrian regime artillery shelling of the town of Marimeen on July 13, 2022.

The Syrian Civil Defense reported that a civilian was injured when artillery shells struck the town of Marimeen and that their volunteers rushed the injured civilian to the hospital. Shaam News referred to “civilians” being wounded in the shelling but did not identify how many civilians.

According to @free_sy_news, the damage that resulted from the shelling “was limited to material.”

Various sources that reported on the incident put the number of shells that fell on the village of Marimeen between three and four, with @jabha_sy specifying that 60mm mortars were part of the bombardment and fell on houses and shops in the town.

The majority of sources attributed the shelling to the SDF or SDF controlled areas while the Syrian Civil Defense identified the shells as coming from areas controlled by the SDF and regime forces but did not identify who was responsible. Ugarit Post reported that Turkish forces bombed the villages of Marimeen, Mara’anaz and Soghanka in Sherawa district but did not attribute any civilian casualties to Turkish forces.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    0–2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    YPG, Syrian Regime
  • Suspected target
    Turkish Forces

Sources (16) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (3) [ collapse]

  • Syrian Civil Defense volunteers treat a civilian injured in artillery shelling in Marimeen on July 13, 2022. (Image posted by the Syrian Civil Defense via Facebook)
  • Damage caused by alleged SDF or regime shelling of Marimeen on July 13, 2022. (Image posted by Zaiton Mag)
  • Smoke caused by alleged SDF or regime shelling of Marimeen on July 13, 2022. (Image posted by @zaHgWzi5xJG5Ipn)

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Marimeen (مريمين), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.918889, 36.413056. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

YPG Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    YPG
  • YPG position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    0–2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    YPG, Syrian Regime
  • Suspected target
    Turkish Forces

Sources (16) [ collapse]

Incident Code

SDF00006

Incident date

August 29, 2023

Location

العزبة, Al Ezba, Deir Ezzor, Syria

Airwars assessment

On August 29, 2023, several sources reported that an SDF bombardment of the Syrian city of Al-Ezba killed a child and injured numerous civilians, with most putting the number of injured between two and three.

There are no sources that mention death of belligerents, and all accounts that offer specifics beyond “civilians killed and injured” put the civilian death count at one, with all sources in agreement that the person killed was a child. @Sohebbb1990 specified that the child kill, a girl, was 13 years old.

However, there is some variation regarding details of the number of people injured. The most common figure, cited by the twitter account for Halab Today TV, Twitter user Sohebbb199, the Jabour Post, and the Shahed Post report that one girl was killed and two injured. All of those sources, except Halab TV, also state that the two injured were the sisters of the girl killed in the strike. Halab TV says that the two injured were her brothers.

Twitter user @DeirEzzor says that a girl was killed, and two children and a women injured.

Several other sources offer less specific statements, such as Twitter user @Mohab_Nasser2 “civilians dead and wounded, including women and children” and Twitter user @idleb_online who said a child was killed and “others injured”.

All sources attribute the bombing to the forces of the SDF, which some sources refer to as the PYD/PKK.

Several sources, including Ayman Abdullah Post and Twitter user @HamamIssa7, say that the bombing took place in the context of fighting between the SDF and the Military Council of Deir Ezzor.

Finally, both Twitter user @Sohebbb199 and the Jabour Post state that the casualties were “displaced from the Al-Bukamal area”.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–3
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    YPG
  • Suspected target
    Tribal Forces

Sources (10) [ collapse]

YPG Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    YPG
  • YPG position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–3
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    YPG
  • Suspected target
    Tribal Forces

Sources (10) [ collapse]

Incident Code

SDF00038

Incident date

September 11, 2023

Location

الدحلة, Al Dahla, Deir ez-Zor, Syria

Airwars assessment

At least one person, a young man named Hussein Nahar al-Gharut, was reportedly killed by gunfire allegedly from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the town of Al Dahla, in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor on Monday, September 11th 2023. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the victim as being a member of local militant groups. However, SN4HR, Ain al-Furat Network and Orient News claimed that he was a civilian.

According to Ain al-Furat sources, Hussein Nahar al-Gharut was reportedly asked by SDF members to stop at a military checkpoint. When he refused, Ain al-Furat claims, they opened fire on him, leading to his immediate death. The Rasd Syria Network for Human Rights corroborated these events.

All of the sources attributed the shooting to the SDF.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Ground operation
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0 – 1
  • (1 man1 undetermined)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Small arms and light weapons
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    YPG
  • Suspected target
    Tribal Forces
  • Belligerents reported killed
    0–1

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

YPG Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    YPG
  • YPG position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Ground operation
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0 – 1
  • (1 man1 undetermined)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Small arms and light weapons
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    YPG
  • Suspected target
    Tribal Forces
  • Belligerents reported killed
    0–1