Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS3045

Incident date

February 20, 2018

Location

عين ترما, Ain Tarma, Damascus, Syria

Geolocation

33.51602, 36.35078 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

At least three civilians were killed and up to dozens were left wounded as Ain Tarma, eastern Ghouta, Damascus, was struck by airstrikes, local media reported, who, however, were unclear whether to blame Russia or the Syrian regime – or both.

As depicted on footage from the scene, the airstrikes hit residential areas and left parts of Ain Tarma in complete rubble.

The majority of sources reported three fatalities, hereof one identified by name by @LaLaKdaho. Syrian Network for Human Rights (SN4HR) noted that the strikes had claimed “at least” three civilian lives.

On February 24th, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the recovery of the bodies of “a mother and her four children [who] were killed four days ago in the town of Ein Tirma.”

France24, again on February 24th, said: “The bodies of five other civilians were recovered Saturday {Feb 24th] from the rubble, which turned out to belong to a mother and her four children who were killed four days ago in the town of Ein Tirma.”

The number of wounded spanned from “several” to as many as dozens, the latter reported by Step News Agency.

Reports disagreed in terms of culpability. While just one source, Orient News, pointed solely to Assad, Step News and Ghouta Media Center blamed Russia, and finally, several sources, including SN4HR, identified both Assad and Russia as responsible.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Age unknown male killed

Summary

  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3 – 6
  • (4 children1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–24
  • 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 (15) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]

  • Smoke in the streets of Ain Tarma, Damascus, following the contested airstrikes on February 20th, 2018 (via GMC)
  • Smoke rising from Ain Tarma, Damascus, following the contested airstrikes on February 20th, 2018 (via Damas Press)
  • The moment Ain Tarma, Damascus, is being hit by the contested airstrikes on February 20th, 2018 (via Smart News Agency)
  • The moment Ain Tarma, Damascus, is being hit by the contested airstrikes on February 20th, 2018, followed by the immediate aftermath where large parts of the city was left in rubble (via Alaa al-Ahmad)

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 strikes between February 1st - 28th 2018.


Syrian Regime Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3 – 6
  • (4 children1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–24
  • 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 (15) [ collapse]