Geolocation
Airwars assessment
According to the Violations Documentation Center and others, six civilian males were reported killed in an alleged Russian airstrike in the vicinity of the Aisha hospital in Al Bukamal. According to Deir Ezzor 24, eight rockets or missiles were launched on the town. However, the Syrian Observatory has attributed the attack to the US-led Coalition.
No further information is available at the present time.
In their January 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:
Summary
Sources (15) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]
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Hathifa Tarek Thabet Al Hawiya (via Free Deir Ezzor Broadcaster)
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Mahidi Osama al Matroud (via Free Deir Ezzor)
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.
Russian Military Assessment:
Original strike reports
Russia has confirmed carrying out airstrikes in Dayr ez Zawr governorate on November 18th 2015: “From 5:00 to 5:50 a squadron of Tu-22M3 long-range bombers made airstrikes against 6 ISIS facilities in the provinces of Raqqah and Deir-ez-Zor. They engaged depots with weapons and ammunition, mass concentrations of military hardware, training camps and workshops producing explosives.”
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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November 18, 2015, in Al Bukamal, 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. 2880/CS147 37SFU763144
Original strike reports
For November 17th-18th, the Coalition reported: "Near Abu Kamal, two strikes struck two ISIL oil and gas separation plants."
For November 18th-19th: "Near Dayr Az Zawr, one strike struck an ISIL gas and oil separation plant."