(Previous Incident Codes: R2844RS3040)

On February 19, 2018, between six and 11 civilians, including two children and four women, were killed and several were wounded as Russian and/or Syrian forces carried out aerial and artillery shelling of Hazza, eastern Ghouta, Damascus, local media reported.

As a part of a intensification of shelling of large parts of eastern Ghouta, the town of Hazza was subject to heavy air, and possibly also artillery shelling in residential areas, multiple sources said.

The death toll spanned from “so far six” as initially reported by Damascus Media Center to as many as 11 as reported by many sources, such as Ghouta Media Center (GMC), who updated its initial report from seven to 11 fatalities.

The same source identified seven of the victims by name which included two children while five others were described as “young”. The names of those killed who were identified as “young wom(e)n” were Safa Marei, Alaa Marei and Maysa Qasim. A girl named Najma Al-Taweel was also killed as well as a two children, a girl called Talia Eid Amer and a boy called Hussein Bilal Al-Taweel. Ziad Bassam Al-Haffar was also reportedly killed in the incident, he was described as “young”.

According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SN4HR), who reported seven fatalities, two children and four women were among the victims.

Additionally, several sources mentioned that a number of civilians were left wounded.

While most reported about aerial shelling, several reports, including Zaman al-Wasl and HalabTodayTV described how Hazza also had been subject to rocket attacks.

It remained unclear among the sources where to attribute responsibility for the strike. While Zaman al-Wasl solely pointed to the Syrian regime, several others, including GMC, blamed Russian warplanes. Finally, a handful of reports, including SN4HR, identified both belligerents as responsible.