Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS1682

Incident date

November 23, 2016

Location

قرية مراط, Marat, Deir Ezzor, Syria

Geolocation

35.31407, 40.23865 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

According to local sources, warplanes struck a house in Marat, Deir Ezzor, killing up to five civilians from the same family, including children and women as well as wounding up to ‘dozens’.

Several sources reported that the strikes struck residential buildings, calling the incident a “massacre”. Reportedly, the strikes struck a home belonging to the Darwish family, leading to at least four deaths.

Euphrates reported “Deir Ezzor countryside – Mrat: Warplanes commit a massacre after targeting the home of Thabet al Darwish killing four people and leaving dozens wounded in an initial toll.”


Meanwhile, several sources reported the death toll reached five, all women and children.
 For example, @DeirEzzor24 reported: “five martyrs, all of them women and children and a number of wounded as a result of the bombing of warplanes to the town of #Mart in the countryside # Deir al-Azur East today noon.”

Deir Ezzor Radio identified four victims by name, listed below.

The number of injured varied among sources, spanning from seven to ‘dozens’.

Most sources did not identify a culprit and merely referred to “warplanes”.

Syrian News Desk reported that the victims were caused by “regular military air strikes”

Two sources, however, attributed the strikes to the Syrian regime. These were SPM News and al-Araby. SPM News also reported the use of cluster bombs. No sources pointed explicitly to Russia as the culprit.

There seemed to be some confusion as to whether the incident took place on the 23rd or 24th of November. However, most sources reported that the Darwish family was killed due to strikes on the 23rd, while another strike also took place on the following day, incident RS1683.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (4)

Atab Ghada’an al Darwish
Age unknown female killed
Intissar Abdallah al Dheeb, the wife of Subhi Thabet al Darwish
Age unknown female killed
Child of Subhi Thabet Darwish
Child killed
Child of Subhi Thabet Darwish
Child killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Marat (قرية مراط), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.31407, 40.23865. 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
    4 – 5
  • (2–3 children2 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    7–24
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Syrian Regime, Russian Military

Sources (20) [ collapse]

Syrian Regime Assessment:

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

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 specific strikes between November 1st – 30th 2016.

On 6 January 2017, Russia, however, reported: “Since November 8, 2016, the aircraft carrier group of the Northern Fleet consisting of the heavy aircraft carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov, the heavy nuclear missile cruiser Pyotr Velikiy, the large ASW ship Severomorsk, as well as auxiliary vessels of the Black Sea Fleet, has been fulfilling counterterrorist missions on the territory of Syria”, adding that ”in the course of two months of their participation in the combat actions, naval aviation pilots have carried out 420 combat sorties, 117 of them were night ones.”

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4 – 5
  • (2–3 children2 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    7–24
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Syrian Regime, Russian Military

Sources (20) [ collapse]