Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Up to five civilians died, and 14 were wounded in an airstrike on Daranj, local media said, though sources were conflicted as to whether this was the work of the US-led Coalition or Russia.
In January 2019 the Coalition accepted responsibility for the event, noting: “Coalition aircraft engaged ISIS fighters operating a mortar position firing at Coalition partner forces. Regrettably, while the ISIS mortar team was destroyed, one of the munitions struck near a residential area injuring 14 civilians and five civilians were unintentionally killed.”
Al Sharq News reported the death of five civilians in an alleged Coalition airstrike on Daranj. The victims were identified by name.
Syria News Desk noted clashes in the area, reporting that SDF militias announced their control over the town of Daranj in the eastern suburb of Deir ez Zawr after heavy fighting with Daesh.
Asharq Al Souri network, Step News Agency Al Jisr TV all blamed the Coalition.
However, according to Al Haal, this was the work of Russia. It said that four civilians including one woman died and that 14 others – mostly women and children – were wounded.
The Coalition provided Airwars with the location of this incident, accurate to within a 100 metre box.
The incident was first reported on November 30, 2017 at 9:30 am by .
The victims were named as:
Family members (2)
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (14) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Daranj (درنج), for which the coordinates are: 34.918333, 40.581389 Prior to the Coalition releasing the MGRS for this incident, Airwars had geolocated it to the nearest village at 34.57888, 40.93441
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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Nov. 30, 2017 near Darnaj, Syria via self-report. Coalition aircraft engaged ISIS fighters operating a mortar position firing at Coalition partner forces. Regrettably, while the ISIS mortar team was destroyed, one of the munitions struck near a residential area injuring 14 civilians and five civilians were unintentionally killed.
Original strike reports
For November 29th-30th, the Coalition reported: “Near Abu Kamal, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed a tactical vehicle, two ISIS watercraft, a heavy weapon, five ISIS vehicles and four supply routes.”