Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS4155

Incident date

November 11, 2019

Location

بلدة بسقلا, Bsaqla, Idlib, Syria

Geolocation

35.600962, 36.579151 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

A child was killed and at least one woman injured in alleged Russian and/or Syrian regime artillery strikes on the village of Bsaqla on November 11th 2019, according to local sources.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights identified the victim as child Mustafa Yaser al Hasan from Ma’ar Zita village. Step News agency put the number of wounded at two, whereas MMC reported three injured civilians.

Obeida Othman, director of the Civil Defense Center told Smart News Agency that “a child was killed and a woman was wounded as a result of shelling by Syrian regime forces with seven artillery shells on the village of Bsaqla. The shelling also damaged a number of civilian houses”.

Step News Agency pointed to Syrian regime forces in the northern countryside of Hama who allegedly targeted Bsaqla with high-explosive rockets, but other sources named Russian forces as the belligerent.

Images and videos posted by various sources show the father of the child killed holding the body of his dead child and mourning the loss.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Child male from Ma’ar Zita village killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Bsaqla ( بلدة بسقلا), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.600962, 36.579151. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 child)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1–3
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • 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 (24) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (9) [ collapse]

  • Photo of alleged Russian and/or Syrian air or artillery strikes on the town of Bsaqla on November 11th, 2019 (via MMC on Facebook).
  • Aftermath of alleged Russian and/or Syrian air or artillery strikes on the town of Bsaqla on November 11th, 2019 (via IdlibPlus).
  • Aftermath of alleged Russian and/or Syrian air or artillery strikes on the town of Bsaqla on November 11th, 2019 (via SCD on Facebook).
  • At least one civilian, a child, was killed in airstrikes/artillery shelling on Basqla on November 11, 2019. (Images posted by @EyesOnIdlib)
  • At least one civilian, a child, was killed in airstrikes/artillery shelling on Basqla on November 11, 2019. (Images posted by @EyesOnIdlib)
  • Caption translation: A family escaped from death and took refuge in a small ditch, fearing the bombing that targeted the village of Basqla today. (Image posted by @hadikhraat)

Russian Military Assessment:

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

Syrian Regime Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 child)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1–3
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • 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 (24) [ collapse]