Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

R4565

Incident date

October 5, 2023

Location

جسر الغشور, city market in Jisr Al Shughour, west of Idlib, Idlib, Syria

Airwars assessment

On the morning of Thursday, October 5, 2023, in a town of Jisr Al Shughour located west of Idlib, Syria, artillery bombardement with contested responsibility — reportedly by the Syrian regime forces and/or the Russian military — struck the city’s popular market and residential neighborhoods, killing at least one child and injuring at least 12 civilians.

While most reports indicated a single fatality, a child named Ghaith Abdulkhalek Shaeen, one source claimed a total of three deaths, including a man and two children, as reported by a local journalist via his Twitter account @Zelal_katee, accompanied by a video. These casualties, however, were unnamed by this source and unverified by others. A Twitter/X user @pvSScBsybeozsB8 shared an image of a young smiling boy identified as Ghaith Shaeen who was killed in the strike.

The count of civilian injuries was also disputed, with a minimum of six reported injuries contrasting with a list of 12 named individuals injured, shared by the Jisr al-Shughur Media Center. Although the media center did not confirm that those listed were civilians, all other reports consistently identified the injured as such.

The names of the injured civilians are Fatma Hajjar, Mohammed Thabet Halib,Khitam Hasnawi, Ahmad Al Khalif, Raji Abdulrahim, Abdulrazek Saleh, Nour Al Thaher, Mahmoud Khateeb,  Mohammed Duwairi, Hamoud Dali, Ahmad Al Munir, and Khlail Malandi.

Jisr media center Facebook account and other local sources shared images of the clouds arising after the bombardement and of vehicles being on fire. Orient News tweeted a video showing painful scenes, panic and fear in the city after the strike. Syrian news agency SANA’s Twitter/X account shared the images of the firefighters trying to extinguish the fire that had broke out after the strike. Al Arabiya Syria Facebook account posted the images showing the aftermath of the bombardment –  holes in buldings’ walls, rubble and a burnt car.

While the majority of sources attributed the attack to Syrian regime forces, Twitter/X account @mzmgr941 held the Russian military responsible for the strike.

The incident occured in the morning.

The victims were named as:

Ghaith Abdulkhalek Shaeen غيث عبد الخالق شاهين
Child killed
Fatma Hajjar فاطمة حجار
Age unknown injured
Mohammed Thabet Halib محمد ثابت حليب
Age unknown injured
Khitam Hasnawi ختام حسناوي
Age unknown injured
Ahmad Al Khalif أحمد الخليف
Age unknown injured
Raji Abdulrahim راجي عبد الرحيم
Age unknown injured
Abdulrazek Saleh عبدالرزاق صالح
Age unknown injured
Nour Al Thaher نور الظاهر
Age unknown injured
Mahmoud Khateeb محمد خطيب
Age unknown injured
Mohammed Duwairi محمد دويري
Age unknown injured
Hamoud Dali حمد الدالي
Age unknown injured
Ahmad Al Munir أحمد المنير
Age unknown injured
Khlail Malandi خليلي ملندي
Age unknown injured

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Marketplace
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 3
  • (1–2 children1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    12
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Impact
    Food
    Impact on services or infrastructure relating to education, health or food supply. See methodology note for details.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Syrian Regime, Russian Military

Sources (33) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (33) [ collapse]

  • Source: @SyriaCivilDefet
  • Source: @SyriaCivilDefet
  • Source: @SyriaCivilDefet
  • Source: @SyriaCivilDefet
  • Source: Jist media center
  • Source: Jisr media center
  • Source: @Abdalgani1990
  • Source: @Abdalgani1990
  • Source: @Abdalgani1990
  • Source: @pvSScBsybeozsB8
  • Source: @syrianewsag
  • Source: @syrianewsag
  • Source: Jisser.al.Shughour
  • Source: Jsralshogour
  • Source: Alaarbya al syria
  • Source: Alaarbya al syria
  • Source: Alaarbya al syria
  • Source: Alaarbya al syria
  • Source: Alaarbya al syria
  • Source: Alaarbya al syria
  • Source: Alaarbya al syria
  • Source: Alaarbya al syria
  • Source: Alaarbya al syria
  • Source: Alaarbya al syria
  • Source: Alaarbya al syria
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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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Marketplace
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 3
  • (1–2 children1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    12
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Impact
    Food
    Impact on services or infrastructure relating to education, health or food supply. See methodology note for details.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Syrian Regime, Russian Military

Sources (33) [ collapse]