On the evening of Sunday, December 17th, 2023, the residential neighborhoods of the towns of Nubl and Al-Zahraa in the northern countryside of Aleppo, Syria, were struck by the artillery bombardment perpetrated by the Turkish affiliated militia Al-Fatah Al-Mubin, as a result of which between two to eight civilians were reportedly injured. According to SOHR, violent explosions rocked the two towns.

Athar News press initially reported that two civilians were injured due to a missile bombardment targeting the towns of Nubl and Al-Zahraa. Referring to local sources, Athar news added that the attack was executed by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly known as the Al-Nusra Front), a militia affiliated with the Turkish military, using Grad missiles from Darat Azza. The strike also caused material damage to a house that was empty of its residents at the time of the bombing and to one of the cars.

A report by Sputnik also attributed the assault on Nubul and Al-Zahraa to the militants from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, mentioning that eight civilians were injured. Aleppo News claimed the shelling was carried out by Al-Nusra militants stationed in the city of Darat Azza in the western countryside of Aleppo. A number of casualties were transferred to the city of Aleppo to receive treatment.

In a video shared by the Facebook account “KAJ videos”, a representative of the Al-Fatah Al-Mubin militia affiliated with the Turkish military spoke to a camera while artillery strikes were being carried out by his comrades in the background. He said: “Al-Fatah Al-Mubin targeted Nubul and Al Zahraa town in response to the regime forces’ attack on Idlib city.” The video caption said: “We have never been silent about the one who hit us ?. In response to the regime’s bombing of the city of Idlib, #direct targeting with missile barrages on the towns of #Nubul and #Al-Zahra.” Therefore, Airwars has graded the incident as a declared strike by the Turkish militia.