Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS1598

Incident date

November 17, 2016

Location

كفر جالس, Kafr Jalis, Idlib, Syria

Geolocation

35.976182, 36.613076 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Exact location (via Airwars) level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Up to eleven civilians died, including women and children, and more than ten were injured in Kafr Jalis following alleged Russian or regime shelling, according to various local sources.

Most sources suspected six civilians killed, however, Syrian News Desk reported seven killed including more than ten injuries.

Sky News put the toll at much high, claiming that eleven died including six people from one family after their house was struck in the strikes. The source blamed the Syrian regime.

According to @mnaf1991h “mostly women” died in the attack. The Syrian Network for Human Rights put the death toll at six including three children and two women.

Aljazeera, citing the director of the Center for Civil Defense, Yahya Araja, said that the “shelling targeted the safe civilians in their homes” leading to “massive destruction”.

Reporting attributed blame to Russia, the regime and in some cases mentioned only “warplanes”.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Geolocation notes (2) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention the village of Kafr Jalis (كفر جالس), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.976182, 36.613076. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

  • Tagged visual material from sources.

  • Tagged visual material from sources

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    6 – 11
  • (3 children2 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–10
  • 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 (14) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (6) [ collapse]

  • The report shows the extent of destruction in Kafr Jalis following suspected Russian airstrikes, November 17th (via Jisrtv)
  • Kafr Jalis, destroyed following alleged Russian strikes, November 17th (via Qasioun)
  • Footage reveals the impact of alleged Russian warplane shelling on Kafr Jalis, November 17th (via Jisrtv)
  • The correspondent Mohemed Dagim details the extent of the damage on Kafr Jalis following suspected Russian airstrikes, November 17th (via HalabTodayTV)
  • Destruction both on the street and inside buildings throughout Kafr Jalis following suspected Russian airstrikes, November 17th (via Edlib Media Center)

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
    6 – 11
  • (3 children2 women)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–10
  • 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 (14) [ collapse]