Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS4205

Incident date

November 27, 2019

Location

بكفلا أو النهر الأبيض, Bkafla or Al Naher Al Abyad, near Jisr Ash Shughour, Idlib, Syria

Airwars assessment

One young male civilian was reportedly killed and at least nine others, including one woman and at least four members of the Syrian Civil Defense, were reportedly wounded in an alleged Russia and/or Syrian regime forces artillery strike on Bkafla or Al Naher Al Abyad, near Jisr Ash Shughour in the evening of November 27th 2019.

Ahmad Nasim, a civilian resident from Jisr al Shoghour was reportedly killed during the attack. Zaman al-Wasl identified him as a young man.

Most local sources reported that ten civilians had been injured, including five members of the Syrian Civil Defense, while @alhariri58 reported that an overall of nine civilians had been injured. According to the Syrian Civil Defense and other local sources, only four civil defense volunteers had been injured. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals.

The White Helmets were reportedly inspecting the damage during a rescue operation in the affected area in the aftermath of an attack consisting of three missiles, when an additional one or two missiles hit the area and injured the volunteers.

The White Helmets listed the names of their injured volunteers as Ali Qayqouni, Osama Al Hussein, Alaa Hawash, and Ahmad Al-Shughri. Some local sources claimed that Juma`a Jarar, also a White Helmet volunteer, had suffered injuries. JSR.alshughor.now identified the injured civilians as Talal Masri (35), Khaled Fujaina (44), Hazar Amoudi (35), Samer Amoudi (32), Ma`en Khatib (48).

While some sources claimed that the Russian Armed Forces were responsible for the attack, others claimed that Regime forces conducted the strikes. Zaman al-Wasl claimed as the only source that Iranian militias stationed in the “Jorin” camp were responsible for the attack.

Syriahr News reported that a total of six long-range surface-to-surface missiles, some of them loaded with cluster bombs, had been fired, while other sources reported that between four to five vacuum and/or ballistic missiles had been shot.

Some sources claimed that the missiles had been fired from an area near the Russian base of Hmeimim in Latakia countryside, or from Russian troops in the Mediterranean. Syriahr News reported that the missiles were believed to come “from the Hayalin camp northwest of Hama”.

According to Syriahr News, the incident occurred after “continuous calm and the absence of the Russian Air Force and the Syrian regime for more than 22 hours, in light of the bad weather conditions in the area since after midnight Tuesday-Wednesday”.

Ahmed Yazigi, commander of the civil defense sector in the Jisr al-Shughour area, told Zaman al-Wasl: “The village of Bikfla, located on the northern edge of the city of Jisr al-Shughur, was targeted with three long-range missiles. The first missile was of a vacuum type, followed by two other missiles. They were loaded with cluster bombs, several civilians were wounded, and our teams went to evacuate the wounded, inspect the place and remove the cluster bombs from the public road because it is the main road to the city of “Jisr al-Shughur” west of Idlib, and while the team was there and working to remove the remnants, the team was targeted by a fourth long-range missile carrying cluster bombs. It resulted in the death of a civilian and the injury of 5 volunteers from our teams and a civilian, some of whom were moderately injured and others were light, in addition to damage to some of our teams’ vehicles.”

The incident occured in the evening.

The victims were named as:

Ali Qayqouni
Adult male Member of the White Helmets injured
Osama Al Hussein
Adult male Member of the White Helmets injured
Alaa Hawash
Adult male Member of the White Helmets injured
Ahmad Al-Shughri
Age unknown male Member of the White Helmets injured
Age unknown male killed
Juma`a Jarar
Age unknown male Member of the White Helmets injured
Ma`en Khatib
48 years old male injured
Samer Amoudi
32 years old male injured
Hazar Amoudi
35 years old female injured
Khaled Fujaina
44 years old male injured
Talal Masri
35 years old male injured

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    9–10
  • 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, Iranian Military

Sources (24) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (8) [ collapse]

  • The aftermath of an alleged Russia or regime strike on Al Naher al Abyad , Nov 27th 2019, (via White Helmets)
  • The aftermath of an alleged Russia or regime strike on Al Naher al Abyad , Nov 27th 2019, (via White Helmets)
  • The aftermath of an alleged Russia or regime strike on Al Naher al Abyad , Nov 27th 2019, (via White Helmets)
  • The aftermath of an alleged Russia or regime strike on Al Naher al Abyad , Nov 27th 2019, (via White Helmets)
  • SCD member injured in the attack (via SN4HR)
  • An injured civilian in a wheelchair with a leg injury in the aftermath of an alleged Russian or regime airstrike on the northern edge of the city of Jisr al-Shughur on November 27th, 2019.
  • An injured civilian during a medical inspection in the aftermath of an alleged Russian or regime airstrike on the northern edge of the city of Jisr al-Shughur on November 27th, 2019.
  • A male civilian with a leg injury during a medical inspection in the aftermath of an alleged Russian or regime airstrike on the northern edge of the city of Jisr al-Shughur on November 27th, 2019.

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

Iranian Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    9–10
  • 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, Iranian Military

Sources (24) [ collapse]