Geolocation
Airwars assessment
An alleged Coalition airstrike targeted a residential area and reportedly killed between eight and 23 civilians, in what local sources described as “a massacre”.
According to Sana News, 23 civilians died as a result of the airstrike. Step News and Euphrates Post reported that a total of 20 people died. Step added that 17 belonged to the same family of Al Hamid al-Saleh Al Abdullah, of whom many were women and children.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights first reported 10 civilian deaths as a result of the strike, including four women. It later added that the death toll had risen to 18 and that all victims were of the same family, including 14 children and three women. Most other media sources reported similar numbers between 17 or 18 civilians of whom most were reported to be women and children of the same family.
Deir Ezzor 24 reported the lowest number of civilian casualties and put the death toll at eight.
Free Deir Ezzor Radio posted that several civilians were injured in addition to the family members who died. According to Step News, it was one female family member who survived.
According to Jisr TV, the family was displaced and had fled Coalition bombing and Kurdish militias on their border village in search of safety in the town of al Soussa.
On March 10, 2022 in the CJTF-OIR Civilian Casualty Report, the Coalition reported this incident to be “non-credible”, stating that “After review of all available evidence it was determined that more likely than not civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition strike.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (27)
Summary
Sources (42) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (5) [ collapse]
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Victims of the alleged Coalition airstrike in Al Soussa on November 15th 2018, according to Jisir TV.
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Victim of the alleged Coalition airstrike in Al Soussa on November 15th 2018, according to Jisir TV
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Victims of the alleged Coalition airstrike in Al Soussa on November 15th 2018, according to Jisir TV
Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention the Al Boubadran (البوبدران) neighbourhood, in the north of Al Soussa (السوسة), for which the generic coordinates are: 34.554886, 40.950379. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. Coordinates released by the Coalition place the event at 34.54233, 40.84554
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Original strike reports
For November 15th-16th, the Coalition publicly reported: On Nov. 15 in Syria, Coalition military forces conducted 19 strikes consisting of 38 engagements against ISIS targets.
Near Hajin, 19 strikes destroyed five buildings, three supply routes, 11 fighting positions, two mortars, one weapons cache, and one command and control center.
‘Thursday 15 November – Typhoons struck three Daesh positions in eastern Syria…Further assistance was rendered to the SDF on Thursday 15 November by a Typhoon flight, which bombed in turn three Daesh positions on the banks of the Euphrates, north-west of Hajin.’
For November 14th-20th 2018, the Dutch MoD reported that Dutch F-16’s supported ground troops in the fight against IS during 10 missions. Weapons were deployed during 3 missions above Deir Ezzor in Syria, targeting IS warehouses and fighting positions.
‘In het weekoverzicht van 14 t/m 20 November laat MinDef weten F-16’s te hebben ingezet tijdens 10 missies ter ondersteuning van grondtroepen in de strijd tegen IS. Bij 3 werden wapens ingezet, boven Deir al Zour in Syrie. Opslagplaatsen en gevechtsposities van IS zijn vernietigd.’
France report that from Nov 14th – 20th, Task Force Wagram conducted 64 firing missions – 47 ‘lighting’, 17 ‘destruction’. Aircraft carried out 18 sorties but there were no strikes.
‘CHAMMAL SITUATION MILITAIRE DU THEATRE Offensive contre les dernières poches de Daech en Syrie L’opération pour reprendre la poche d’Hajine dans la moyenne vallée de l’Euphrate, lancée le 10 septembre, marque actuellement un temps d’arrêt. Appuyées par la coalition, les forces démocratiques syriennes se réorganisent et consolident leurs positions avant de relancer leur offensive. Poursuite des actions de sécurisation en Irak En Irak, les opérations de sécurisation des forces de sécurité irakiennes (FSI) se poursuivent. Evitant le contact, Daech tente d’alimenter un sentiment d’insécurité par des actions clandestines ciblant indistinctement les FSI ou la population irakienne. ACTIVITE DE LA FORCE La Task Force Wagram en appui de l’offensive contre les dernières poches de Daech présentes dans la vallée de l’Euphrate La Task Force (TF) Wagram appuie l’offensive des forces démocratiques syriennes contre Daech dans la région d’Hajine. Elle a réalisé, depuis le territoire irakien, 64 missions de tir (47 éclairement, 17 destruction – bilan du 14 au 20 novembre inclus).’ Depuis le début de son engagement, la Task Force Wagram a réalisé 2165 missions de tirs.