Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS1275 CS315

Incident date

September 17, 2016

Location

تل حسان, Tall Hassan, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.0599239, 37.8514194 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

One named civilian died and between three and 15 others were injured in an airstrike on Tall Hassan’s main mosque, near Aleppo – though sources were conflicted as to whether Russia, the Assad regime or the US-led Coalition were to blame.

Lens Young Manbij reported that “A short while ago a Coalition raid on the village of Tal Hassan near the town of Maskana killed Hamdi al Saleh and seriously injured his wife, daughter and granddaughter as well as destroying a mosque and a house in the village.”

However VDC and the Syrian Network blamed Mr al-Saleh’s death on the regime. But LCCSY was among other sources that blamed Russia.

Halab News put the death toll at three with 15 more wounded.

In their May 2020 civilian casualty report, the US-led Coalition assessed reports that they were responsible for civilian harm in this strike as “non-credible”, stating that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area at that time.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (4)

Adult male killed
Adult female injured
Adult female injured
Age unknown female injured

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Tall Hassan (تل حسان), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.0599239, 37.8514194. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    3–15
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime, US-led Coalition

Sources (25) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (9) [ collapse]

  • Thiqa news reports the death of one man and injury of 3 others following warplane shelling on Tall Hassan village. 17th September 2016
  • Aleppo 24 reports the death of one man and injury of his family following air raids on the village of Tall Hassan in the western countryside of Maskana. 17th September 2016
  • LCCSY reports the death of one man and injury of 3 of his family following alleged Russian raids on Tall Hassan village. 17th September 2016
  • Aleppo 24 reports the death of a civilian and the injury of his family following air raids on the village of Tall Hassan. 17th September 2016
  • Amawi news reports the death of one man and the injury of three members of his family following alleged Russian raids on Tall Hassan. 17th September 2016
  • Halab Today reports the death of Hamdi al Saleh and the injury of his wife, daughter and grand daughter in addition to the destruction of a house and a mosque following air raids targeting the village of Tall Hassan. 17th September 2016
  • Baladi Network reports the death of one man and injury of others following an alleged regime raid on the village of Tall Hassan. 17th September 2016
  • Shahba Press reports the death of one man and several injuries following an air raid on Tall Hassan. 17th September 2016

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

Russian Military

Russia has not reported any strikes between September 1st – 30th 2016.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

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

US-led Coalition Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US-led Coalition
  • US-led Coalition position on incident
    Non credible / Unsubstantiated
    Insufficient information to assess that, more likely than not, a Coalition strike resulted in civilian casualties.
  • Reason for non-credible assessment
    No Coalition strikes were conducted in the geographical area
  • Civilian deaths conceded
    None
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    None
  • MGRS coordinate
    37SCV965912
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • May 1, 2020
  • Sept. 17, 2016, in Tall Hassan, Syria via Airwars report. After a review of all available records it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties. 3052/CS315 37SCV965912

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

For September 16th-18th 2016, the Coalition publicly reported no strikes in the vicinity of Manbij, Aleppo.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    3–15
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime, US-led Coalition

Sources (25) [ collapse]