Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Three to five civilians, including a member of the civil defence and one to two children, died and as many as 12 more, including two civil defence personnel, were wounded in an alleged Russian or regime airstrike on an ammunition depot on the outskirts of Darkoush the morning of October 31, 2019, local media reported.
According to the Step News Agency, “Three people have been killed and others injured in explosions in weapons depots in Darkoush town of Edlib western countryside”. It blamed Russian warplanes.
The White Helmets reported that one of their volunteers, Ahmad Abdul Hamid Qubba, died “while inspecting successive explosions in the town of Darkoush this morning [Oct 31st] caused by terrorist shelling from Russia and Assad forces.”
The White Helmets gave further information on the victim: “The martyr Ahmad Abdul Hamid Qubba joined the Syrian Civil Defense on 1/3/2015. Ahmad was an active and loving element of their work. He lost his mother, niece and cousin in a regime airstrike on Darkush in 2015. In the wake of the attacks on the city of Idlib, Ahmed applied for transfer to the bridge of Shughour, to provide services there and to help civilians. Ahmad was martyred in his humanitarian work, in helping people and helping them, he was martyred days before his wedding.”
A post by Darkoush Media center also reported that Ahmed Khaled Halima was killed.
A post by @darkoshel named those killed: Muhammad Khaled Khidr and two children martyrs sons of Khaled Halima. They named those injured: Brother Majid Khudair, Mustafa Estifa, Ahmed Halima, Muhammad al-Tayyib, Hussam Ismail, Nour al-Din Haj Moussa, Ahmed Kahlous, Issa Al-Qablan.
@IdlibPlus put the death toll “including a child and a volunteer in the Civil Defense”, adding that 12 more civilians were wounded in “a huge explosion in an ammunition depot on the outskirts of Darkoush town”. It said the cause of the explosion was unknown – most other sources blamed a Russian raid.
@MMCSYR2 added that “two other personnel were wounded” in addition to the White Helmet that was killed.”
A tweet by @abmualsu identified vacuum missiles as being used in the strike that led to the explosion.
A video posted by @W2VwmFMCVowAhEb shows the destruction caused by the strikes and explosion.
Sources were contested as to whether Russia or the regime were responsible.
The incident occured in the morning.
The victims were named as:
Family members (3)
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Darkoush (دركوش), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.9916361, 36.3938856. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (22) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (13) [ collapse]
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Translation: "The Syrian Civil Defense mourns one of its volunteers in the Idlib Directorate, Ahmad Qubba, who was elevated during his duty to inspect the successive explosions that took place in the town of Darkoush this morning." (via White Helmets)
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Ahmad Abdul Hamid Qubba, White Helmets volunteer, killed in an alleged Russian or regime strike on an ammunition depot in Darloush, Oct 31st (via White Helmets)
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Ahmad Abdul Hamid Qubba, White Helmets volunteer, killed in an alleged Russian or regime strike on an ammunition depot in Darloush, Oct 31st (via White Helmets)
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Caption translation: #martyr Civil Defense volunteer "Ahmed Qubba" was martyred as a result of explosions in Darkoush town (Image posted by @hadikhraat )
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This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Caption translation: God is enough, and yes, the agent The martyr, God willing, Ahmed Qubba, a volunteer of the Civil Defense in Darkoush The martyr Muhammad Khaled Khidro Two children martyrs sons of Khaled Halima Injuries Brother Majid Khudair Mustafa Estifa Ahmed Halima displaced Muhammad al-Tayyib is displaced Hussam Ismail is displaced Nour al-Din Haj Moussa displaced Ahmed Kahlous displaced Issa Al-Qablan is displaced (Images not identified, posted by @darkoshel via Facebook) -
Image of Mohammed Khaled Khidro, killed in strikes on Darkoush on October 31, 2019 (Image posted by @darkoshel via Facebook)