In 4 years of Coalition engagement, it controlled tens of thousands of square kilometers, Huge military bases, and more than 3330 civilian casualties out of about 12000 killed by its strikes
The International Coalition completes today, the 23rd of September 2018, the 4th consecutive year of its military participation on the Syrian territory, which was focused on supporting certain parties and searching for allies with influence that may be expandable. And since the first raid and missile strike by the International Coalition, the International Coalition supported military parties operating within Syria, and its air and missile-based participation transformed into a military and ground one, until the US-led International Coalition expanded its presence and the presence of the forces it supports to include large areas of the Syrian territory, also the Coalition has faced its opponents with military strikes, where it bombed the “Islamic State” organization, Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Qaeda in the Levant), jihadist groups, and also targeted the regime forces and their allies and the Iranian forces.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights during the four years followed the movement of the International Coalition of military and field operations as well as other logistics operations, like building military bases, expanding its control, or providing support in various aspects, while the Coalition’s participation in military operations was manifested through the geographical area, of which it was able to support the allied ground forces or its supported forces to control, where the International Coalition and the forces it supports which are the Syria Democratic Forces -of which YPG is its mainstay- today they control an area of 52528 km² of the Syrian territory with a ratio of 28.2% of the Syrian geography, which includes the entire area of Manbij and its countryside west of the Euphrates River, and the entire area east of Euphrates except the last enclave of the “Islamic State” organization on the east banks of Euphrates River, and several areas controlled by the regime forces and their allies east of the Euphrates in front of Deir Ezzor city, while the Syrian opposition factions supported by the International Coalition control 3543 km² which is 1.9% of the Syrian territory’s area, while these forces which are supported by the International Coalition used to control before the International Coalition entered the military operations in Syria 12624 km² i.e. 6.8% before the 23rd of September 2014, and included areas within al-Hasaka province which is the areas stretching in the border triangle of Iraq and Turkey – al-Hasakah city – the outskirts of al-Raqqah countryside, in addition to Ayn al-Arab (Kobani) city which was witnessing the heaviest attack by the “Islamic State” organization.
This military advancement was carried out by 3 direct ways, the first was the intense air support by the International Coalition through focused strikes based on intelligence operations that killed tens of prominent leaders of the organization, and the strikes which accompanied the military operations have killed thousands, and the direct land participation through the involvement of Coalition Forces in the battlefronts, while the third was through providing weapons, ammunition, equipment, communications, and in the preparation of military plans.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has been monitoring since the second half of 2018, the International Coalition led by the United States of America increasing its presence in the whole area east of Euphrates, and the reinforcement of this presence came by various means monitored by the Syrian Observatory, where the reliable sources confirmed to the Observatory that the Coalition has established at least 18 different bases in areas east of Euphrates and in Manbij area in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo at the west bank of the river including 6 major bases, these bases are distributed in the area of Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), Khrab Ishak, and Manbij in Aleppo Province, and Ein Issa, al-Raqqah, and al-Tabaqa in al-Raqqah Province, al-Shaddadi, al-Hool, Tal Tamr, Tal Baidar and Rmaylan in al-Hasaka Province, and al-Omar oilfield and al-Bahra in the countryside of Deir Ezzor. The major bases include airports for the landing and takeoff of planes, and some of them were built in the form of small bases, also the sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory that the bases are protected continuously through the aerial surveillance of warplanes in the sky area of the base, and through cars roaming the perimeter of the bases as well as fixed checkpoints scattered around the perimeter of these bases and airports, to protect them from any attacks Individually or collectively by the “Islamic State” organization or any other cells that seek to target the area.
Also the International Coalition through their committees on the ground in the east of Euphrates; are carrying out periodic meetings with the aim of developing institutions located in the east of Euphrates, where these committees provide logistical support, financial support, and equipment for the committees that requests their specific assistance, also these committees supervise the process of managing affairs of many service and administrative parties in an undeclared manner, and provide their contributions in developing the service management and organizing the work of the institutions supervising eastern areas of Euphrates.
Also the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored the entry of more than thousands of trucks to the SDF-held areas since the beginning of August 2018, and the trucks carried military and logistic equipment, building substances and other materials, the Syrian Observatory monitored operations of the International Coalition during which it managed to transfer tens of its agents of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities, who were operating within the “Islamic State” organization’s-controlled areas, where they were recovered through helicopter landings and then they were transported to Coalition headquarters east of Euphrates River.
The military operations of the Coalition were not away of the civilians, but once again they were the first victims of these military movements, aerial, and ground bombardments by the International Coalition, were the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored the killing of thousands of civilians by the Coalition, and thousands are still suffering as a result of the same strikes, while the mystery continues to surround the fate of tens of missing people whose fate is not known until now.
And the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented since the 23rd of September 2014 until today the 23rd of September 2018, the death of 11846 people, they were killed by airstrikes, bombing and raids by warplanes of the International Coalition, also these airstrikes have injured hundreds of other citizens and some of whom have had serious injuries, amputations and disabilities, they have also damaged private and public property.
Among the total number of casualties there are 3177 Syrian civilian citizens, including 758 children under the age of eighteen, and 558 citizen women over the age of eighteen. They were killed in the provinces of al-Hasakah, Al-Raqqah, Aleppo, Idlib and Deir Ezzor, including 58 persons including 6 children, a citizen woman and 19 unidentified persons were killed in targeting a call-for-Islam center in al-Jinah village in the western countryside of Aleppo, and more than 64 persons including 12 children, were killed in bombing by Coalition’s warplanes on al-Tokhar area in the northern countryside of Manbij, and 64 civilians killed in a massacre at the night of Thursday-Friday 30th/4 and 1st/5 of 2015 in the village of Bir Mahhalli near Sarrin town south of Ayn al-Arab (Kobani) city as following: 31 persons under the age of eighteen (16 male and 15 female), 19 citizen women over the age of eighteen years, 13 men over the age of eighteen, and an eighteen years old boy.
154 persons of families of the “Islamic State” organization, they are 68 children under the age of sixteen, 57 women and 29 men, all of them were killed in airstrikes by warplanes of International Coalition on a building in al-Mayadin city in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, and 42 prisoners who were killed by international coalition airstrike on Abu Abdullah Al-Nuaimi, who is a former leader in Nusra Front “Qaeda Organization in the Levant”, and who was executed by the “Islamic State” organization and took his house and turned it into a prison affiliated to the security services of the organization, which has been divided into main parts, one of them is for civilians and the other part is for the prisoners of the members of the organization, and a wife of a commander in the “Islamic state” organizing was killed with 4 of her children in bombing by the International Coalition’s warplanes on Dabeq area in the northern countryside of Aleppo, and the wife of a Kazakh commander was killed by strikes on Deir Ezzor.
Also 8024 members of the “Islamic state” at least were killed, most of them are not Syrians, including tens of leaders of Syrian, Arab and foreign nationalities, most notably Abu Omar al-Shishani, Abu Osama al-Iraqi the Wali of “al-Baraka State”, Amer al-Rafdan the former Wali of “al-Khair State”, the leader Abu Sayyaf, Aby Jandal al-Kuwaiti, Abu Sufiyan al-Omrani and Abu Huthayfa al-Orduni and many other of the first and second rank leaders on the Organization.
Also 141 fighters at least from Fath al-Sham Front were killed in the bombing by the International Coalition’s warplanes on headquarters of Jabhat Al-Nusra (Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham currently) in the western countryside of Aleppo and the northern countryside of Idlib, the most prominent is the leader in al-Qaeda Muhsin al-Fadli, Abu Hamam the military leader in Jabhat al-Nusra, Abu Omar al-Kurdi, Abu Hamza al-Faransi, Abu Qatada al-Tunusi and Abu al-Afghan al-Masri.
While 10 fighters from Jaysh al-Sunna were killed in the bombing of the International Coalition’s warplanes on their HQs in Atamah area in the countryside of Idlib, also a fighter from an Islamic Brigade was detained by the “Islamic state” killed in bombing by International Coalition’s warplanes on a headquarters for the “Islamic State” in the township of Ma’dan in the countryside of Al-Raqqah.
Also a media man works for agency belongs to the “Islamic state” was killed in airstrikes carried out by warplanes believed to be for the International Coalition on areas in the village of Tal Battal in the northern countryside of Aleppo.
While the international coalition warplanes killed 169 members at least from the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them by targeting the Artillery battalion and other sites in the vicinity of al-Thardeh Mountain in Deir Ezzor city, and al-Shayrat Airbase in the countryside of Homs and an area near al-Tanaf in the Syrian Desert, as well as areas in Rif Dimashq, Homs countryside and the vicinity of the capital Damascus.
And 157 of the jihadi groups were killed in shelling by warplanes of the International Coalition on Idlib Province and on the western countryside of Aleppo, including tens of the prominent leaders and field commanders and “international Jihadists”.
And 12 members at least of commanders and members of Jaysh Khaled Ibn al-Walid which swore allegiance to the “Islamic State” organization were killed in bombing by warplanes, but it is not known whether the warplanes belong to the International Coalition or not, where the warplanes targeted Jomla area adjacent to the administrative border with the Syrian occupied Golan, and other areas in al-Yarmouk Valley in the western countryside of Daraa.
We, in the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, believe that the human losses in the ranks of the “Islamic State” and other Islamic factions are greater than the number we managed to document so far, because of the extreme secrecy by the targeted parties about their human losses.
We in the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and with the death of more than 3330 civilians including about 1450 children and women, we strongly condemn targeting civilians in anywhere and under any pretext and in any time by the international coalition and these parties, because they repeatedly went deaf in regard with the earlier persistent calls by the Observatory, the Observatory also renews the call to spare the civilians from any military action on the Syrian soil, because the sons of the Syrian people have had enough killing, where millions of them were killed, injured and displaced as the result of the shelling and bombing that targeted their areas, while the international community continues its horrifying silence towards the Syrian people’s pain and hopes of reaching the state of justice, equality, democracy and freedom, as well as punishing those who have killed and helped in the killing, and bringing them for justice in the specialized courts.
High resolution link for a comparison map between areas of control of the forces supported by the International Coalition between 2014 and 2018
