(Previous Incident Codes: R4042RS4293)

At least two civilians were killed and up to four civilians were wounded in initial reports about an alleged Russian or Syrian regime bombing raid upon the village of Maarat Numan on December 28th, 2019.

Local sources reported that Russian helicopters dropped barrel bombs, and there were early reports of four wounded civilians, the death of a child, and the killing of a Civil Defense Worker. The child was identified as Muhammed Fateh Arafat. Human Rights Watch confirmed the death of the child and noted that the child was only eighteen months old. The Civil Defense Worker was later identified as Muhannad Muhammad al-Shaar. Some local sources referred to three civilians killed and three wounded. There were numerous conflicting reports, including one report that noted two dead and two wounded. Syrian Human Rights Committee reported five victims of the bombings, with two dead and three wounded, including a woman.

Civil Defense reported that volunteers were aiding a family of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) fetch their belongings from their home to evacuate to a safe place when the house was struck, and the child was killed. Shaam News described the ten hours necessary to remove the deceased Civil Defense volunteer from the home. Zaman Alwasl News reported numerous air strikes by Russian and pro-Assad forces that targeted highways linking Maarat Numan and Saraqib and Maarat Numan and Ariha.

A White Helmets post read: “Today [Dec 30th] we bid farewell to another of our White Helmet brothers, Muhannad al-Shaar, a hero killed in a direct hit via regime helicopters, along with a child from the family our team was evacuating in #MaaratalNuman City in #Idlib. The remaining family was rescued.”