Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS720 CS188

Incident date

March 10, 2016

Location

خشام, Khusham, Deir Ezzor, Syria

Geolocation

35.3020098, 40.2914143 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

At least two civilians including a girl and a woman died in airstrikes on the town of Khusham. While the majority of the sources allege that this was a Coalition incident, other reports say Russia was responsible.

According to Free Deir Ezzor, Russian raids targeting oil fields in Khusham killed two civilians displaced from Qaryatain, Homs: “Abir Mohamamd al Farrah and the child Shaymaa Hassan al Ammar“. It claimed that the death toll had reached 20, including eight children – though no other sources alleged this tally. A tweet by With God’s Help We Will Triumph and Al Qaryatain Round the Clock also blamed Russia.

However, according to a tweet by Rania Daughter of Douma, these two people died in an alleged Coalition raid. Other sources also alleged that the Coalition was responsible. These included Homs Deir Ba’alba and Syria Rebels Gathering. Hassan Kanjo, self-described as an independent journalist, reported “a very violent bombing the extent of which has never been seen before in the city of Deir Ezzor by coalition planes“, while Aletihad Press said that Coalition warplanes carried out several raids killing “a number of civilians” including the six-year-old girl. The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that “two civilians from the province of Homs were killed in a strike on the city of Deir Ezzor” – and said that the Coalition carried out the raid.

Homs Media Center and SYRCU were among other sources blaming the Coalition, however, Shouqi Sabra said that Russia was responsible.

In their February 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 (2)

Abir Mohamamd al Farrah
Adult female killed
Shaymaa Hassan al Ammar
Child female Child of Abir Mohammed al-Farrah killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Khusham (خشام), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.3020098, 40.2914143. 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
    2 – 20
  • (1–8 children1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Unknown, Syrian Regime, US-led Coalition

Sources (21) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • "Martyred: Shymaa Hassan Abd al Kafi al Ammar and the wife of Mohammad Abd al Kafi al Ammar. Their house was bombed by Russian planes" (via With God’s Help We Will Triumph' twitter)
  • "Abir Adallah al Farra and the child Shaymaa Hasan al Ammar martyred in coalition raids targeting Kisham village in the countryside of Deir Ezzor" (via Rania Daughter of Douma twitter)

Unknown Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Unknown
  • Unknown position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

Unknown

Russia has published no known record of strikes in Syria for March 1st to March 30th.

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
    37SFV174073
    Military Grid Reference System

Civilian casualty statements

US-led Coalition
  • Feb 2, 2020
  • March 10, 2016, in Khusham, 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. 2924/CS188 37SFV174073

Original strike reports

US-led Coalition

The Coalition did not publicly report any strikes in Khusam city for March 9th-10th.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2 – 20
  • (1–8 children1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Unknown, Syrian Regime, US-led Coalition

Sources (21) [ collapse]