Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS1671

Incident date

November 23, 2016

Location

‏خان شيخون‬, Khan Shikhoun, Idlib, Syria

Geolocation

35.440813, 36.6493607 Note: The accuracy of this location is to City level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Multiple sources reported that aerial bombardment in the city of Khan Sheikun, Idlib killed at least three civilians, including two to three children, and wounded up to seven more – though sources were conflicted as to whether this was the work of Russia or the Assad regime.

Sources including the Syrian Network for Human Rights, Idlib News and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at four, hereof three of them being children.

Meanwhile, Syria News Desk reported only two out the four victims were children, adding that another five were left wounded. Smart News’ correspondent  put the death toll at three, one man and two children, adding that four more were wounded.

HomamalHassan reported the highest number of injured, putting the number at seven.

Two sources, SN4HR and The_Syrian1 named four of the victims, including two children.

Sources were conflicted as to whether the strikes were carried out by the Syrian regime or Russia. Five sources, SN4HR, Syria News Desk, Smart News, Jesrnews and Barq_News, attributed the incident to the Syrian regime while just three sources pointed to Russia. These were LCCSY, Spm-Syria and The_Syrian1. Finally, several sources did not identify a culprit, but merely referred to “aerial bombardment.”

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (3)

Khaled Abdel Aziz Diop
Age unknown male killed
Abdul Aziz Ali Diop
Child male killed
Mohammed Ali Diop
Child male killed

The victims were named as:

Abdullah Jihad Rahmoun
Age unknown male killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the city of Khan Shikhoun (‏خان شيخون‬), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.440813, 36.6493607. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3 – 4
  • (2–3 children)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–7
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (20) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]

  • Aftermath of the contested shelling of Khain Sheikhun (via Syria News Desk)
  • Footage of the aftermath of the contested shelling of Khain Sheikhun (via Syria News
  • The two childre, Abdul Aziz and Mohammed Diop, were reportedly killed by the contested airstrikes targeting Khan Sheikhoun November 23 (via SN4HR)
  • Photo showing a child injured by the contested airstrikes in the city of Khan Sheikhan, Idlib southern province, on November 23 (via SN4HR)

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

Russian Military

Russia has not reported any specific strikes between November 1st – 30th 2016.

On 6 January 2017, Russia, however, reported: “Since November 8, 2016, the aircraft carrier group of the Northern Fleet consisting of the heavy aircraft carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov, the heavy nuclear missile cruiser Pyotr Velikiy, the large ASW ship Severomorsk, as well as auxiliary vessels of the Black Sea Fleet, has been fulfilling counterterrorist missions on the territory of Syria”, adding that ”in the course of two months of their participation in the combat actions, naval aviation pilots have carried out 420 combat sorties, 117 of them were night ones.”

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3 – 4
  • (2–3 children)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–7
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (20) [ collapse]