Airwars assessment
On Saturday, December 9, 2023, artillery and missile bombardment allegedly carried out by the Syrian regime forces and/or Russian and/or Iranian military hit residential neighbourhoods, the main market, and industrial area of the city of Idlib, killing at least six civilians, including at least two children and a woman, and up to 22 people, and leaving up to more than 35 civilians injured, including seven children and a woman.
According to the initial information by Syrian Civil Defence, at least five civilians died, including two children and two women. Multiple other sources, including Twitter/X user @mhmdalb29379704, reported that six people were killed, including two children. On December 29, 2023, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that a young man had died of his wounds sustained as a result of the attack on December 9, thus bringing the number of victims killed in the attack to 10, according to their reporting.
Twitter/X user @dimash9i__no claimed that the death toll was as high as 22 people, but this information was not corroborated by other sources.
Multiple sources, such as Twitter/X user @Aghiad_daraya, reported that more than 20 people were injured. The Syrian Civil Defence claimed that 35 people were injured, including seven children and one woman.
Twitter/X user @idlibiontaim shared that one of the children killed as a result of the attack was Hamza al-Shibli, a child from the city of Irbin, his picture was also shared showing his body wrapped in a cloth, with his face visible. According to the post, Hamza was an orphan whose father had been killed before. Twitter/X user @ALiDoghani posted a beautiful image of smiling Hamza posing in the middle of a street in a red hoodie with a teddy bear in his hands.
Hamza’s brother Anas al-Shibli, also a child, was reported to be injured in the arm which was amputated. The family of Al-Baraem Second Model School wrote a condolence message to Anas who lost his arm and wished him a speedy recovery. The Facebook post by Khaled Al Hayes that contained this message also featured an image of Anas, a school-age boy in a black T-shirt.
A list of victims killed in the incident was shared on Facebook by Mohamad Fadel: a child named Mohamad al-Hamad; Hazem Abdel Jawad who was displaced from another city in Idlib, Maarat al-Numan; a woman Shaza (Shatha) al-Sultan from the town of Sheikh Mustafa, Haitham Hasan Suleiman Awad; Ahmad Abdel Kader Merhi, from the village of Hass in Idlib, and 56-year-old Adnan Muhammad Saleh Khalil from the village of Qmenas in Idlib.
The death of Hazem Abdel Jawad was mourned in a Facebook post by Mohamed Al Daher who also shared an image of the late Hazem – a middle-aged man in glasses wearing a striped long-sleeved shirt.
The death of Haitham Hasan Suleiman Awad was mourned by his brother-in-law Alhajj Abou Yoused al-Adlbi who wrote that the late Haitham was his sister’s husband. In his Facebook tribute, he shared an image of middle-aged man dressed in a checkered shirt and jeans.
Adnan Muhammad Saleh Khalil was remembered in the post by Mohammed Yasser Sharit who noted that Adnan had died of his wounds inflicted in the bombardment. He also shared a headshot of Adnan.
According to the post ِby Abdullah Stifan, a civilian from the city of Sarmin named Mamoun Ahmed Hallaq (Shater) was also slightly injured in the attack on Idlib.
A picture shared by the Syrian Civil Defence showed an injured man in hospital with his arm in a cast, another photo showed a different injured man with a wounded leg while his arm was being treated.
A video shared by Syrian Civil Defence on Twitter/X showed the site of the attack, a street covered in debris, with small fires still ablaze, smoke coming out of multiple areas and many shops destroyed and charred as a result of the attack. Several cars were also destroyed.
Another video by the Syrian Civil Defence showed their responders putting out fires. A video shared by Twitter/X user @mzmgr941 showed a store that was burned with a man lying on the ground.
Twitter/X user @mahmoodtalha22 shared a video showing a catastrophic scene with a street covered in debris and a man on the ground inside what seemed to be a shop, now destroyed, his body covered in dust and debris, but still seemed to be breathing while another man in front of the shop was calling for help saying “My son has died.”
Twitter/X user @Qasemqt shared an emotional video showing a distressed man who lost his son, walking back and forth, screaming “Oh God.”
The Syrian Civil Defence shared a video on Twitter/X showing the scene at the hospital with several injured men being treated.
Multiple sources such as the Syrian Civil Defence said that the Syrian regime was behind the attack. Several sources, such as Twitter/X user @mzmgr941, said the Russian military and Iranian forces were behind the attack and did not mention the Syrian regime. Therefore, Airwars has graded both Strike Status and Civilian Harm Status as Contested.
The Syrian Civil Defence said rockets were used for the attack and Twitter/X user @mhmdalb29379704 said it was an artillery and missile bombardment.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (2)
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (26) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (21) [ collapse]
-
Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
-
Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
-
Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: @SyriaCivilDefe -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: @SyriaCivilDefe -
Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: @idlibiontaim -
Source: @ALiDoghani
-
Source: Abu Yousf Al Idilbi
-
Source: Mohammed Yasser Sharit
-
Source: Mohamed Al Daher
-
Source: Khaled Al Hayes
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.