(Previous Incident Codes: R4038RS4287)

Between 10 and 12 civilians, including at least five children and two women, were reported killed and up to seven others, including two children and two women, injured in Joubas, Idlib in Syria on December 24th, 2019 when Russian warplanes attacked a school building that was used as a shelter for displaced people in the village.

A Syrian Civil Defence statement said that “Russian warplanes launched raids on a camp for displaced persons near the village of Jobas village, east of Idlib, killing five children, two women and a man, and wounding seven others, including two children and two women.”

Images of the deceased children were tweeted by local sources, and the deaths were later confirmed by Al-Jazeera and their reporter Milad Fadl, along with Syrian Civil Defense, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The number of dead was later raised to ten, and the Syrian Human Rights Committee reported ten confirmed deaths and five wounded individuals, although one local source stated that twelve had been killed, but that number was not confirmed by any other source. The victims were identified as five children and five adults, with all five children being siblings. The adults were identified as Saleh Al Ashiq, Rahaf Saleh Al Ashiq Hamada, Rowaida Hammadi, Hanan Mazal Al Hammadi, and Fatuma Saleh Al Hammadi. The five children were named Safa Ahmed Hammadi, Moataz Ammar Hammadi, Muhammad Ashiq Hammadi, Yamen Ammar Hammadi, and Aisha Saleh Hammadi.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the death toll is expected to increase as many of the wounded are in a serious condition.

The warplanes specifically struck a school that was being used as a home for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) within the village of Joubas.

All local sources stated that the warplanes were Russian planes.