Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Between five and 13 civilians died in airstrikes on Al Khafssa, according to local sources – though reports were conflicted as to whether Russia, the US-led Coalition or the Syrian regime were to blame.
The majority of sources, including HNN, @AJABreaking and @HalabNewsN blamed Russia.
The Step News Agency, also attributed the event to Russia, put the death toll at seven, including two children and one woman. It added that the victims were from the same family.
Abarahpress said that as many as 13 had died, but similar to a number of other sources, did not identify the culprit.
However, Breakingnews reported the Coalition carried out strikes targeting ISIS in Al Khafssa. @RadioAlKul blamed the Coalition for seven deaths.
According to Manbij Mother of the World, “Coalition planes bomb the area of al Khafsa east of the cemetery with two missiles at exactly 02:00 am. There is news of a massacre in which an entire displaced family has been killed. We await further details from our correspondent.“
One source, Syrianewsdesk, said the regime was responsible, putting the death count at five non-combatants.
In the second of their March 2020 civilian casualty reports, 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.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Al Khafsa (الخفسة), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.2308082, 38.021965. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (27) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (3) [ collapse]
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SN4HR report entitled ‘No less than 240 Massacres in the First half of 2016 - including 33 massacres in June (PDF via SN4HR) [English]
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SN4HR report entitled ‘No less than 240 Massacres in the First half of 2016 - including 33 massacres in June (PDF via SN4HR) [Arabic]
Unknown Assessment:
Original strike reports
Russia has not reported any strikes between June 1st – 31st 2016.
Syrian Regime Assessment:
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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June 27, 2016, in Al Khafsa, 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. 2995/CS243 37SDA121099
Original strike reports
For June 26th - 27th:
* Near Manbij, seven strikes struck five separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL tunnels and damaged an ISIL fighting position and denied ISIL access to terrain.
For June 27th - 28th:
* Near Manbij, seven strikes struck six separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions, and an ISIL anti-tank guided weapon and damaged three ISIL fighting positions.
Update from UK MoD for Monday 27 June:
‘Monday 27 June – Typhoons provided close air support to Syrian democratic forces fighting in Manbij…On Monday 27 June, while Royal Air Force Tornado GR4s conducted reconnaissance missions to gather intelligence on Daesh activity, Typhoon FGR4s and Reaper remotely piloted aircraft provided support to both Syrian democratic forces and Iraqi units. The same day, in Syria, a pair of Typhoons conducted a successful attack with Paveway IV guided bombs against a Daesh strongpoint on the south-western outskirts of Manbij.’