(Previous Incident Codes: R4270RS4511)

Between four and five civilians, including up to four children and a woman, were injured and 2 civilians, a child and his father, died as a result of alleged Russian, Syrian or Iranian artillery shellings or air strikes on residential neighborhoods of the city of Ariha in the southern countryside of Idlib on July 14, 2020.

Numerous sources, including @MMC, @ArihaToday and @Asma, reported on the death of Muhammad Deeb Halabiya Abu Subhi, a 40-year old father, and his son, the 12-year old Karam Muhammad Deeb Halabiya, who succumbed to his injuries as communicated by @SyriaCivilDefence, @Worldarabnews and @SCD. However, other sources referred to only one civilian killed in the incident but it is unclear if they are not counting the injured child who later died.

Sources differ on the amount of wounded civilians that resulted from the strikes. @Wesal_TV, @MMCSYR and @SN4HR merely mention the existence of several injured civilians, including one or more children. The majority of sources reported four to five wounded, including Mohammed Al-Madhi (13 years old), Mohammed Al-Hassan (12 years old), Nour Abras (30 years old) and Youssef Al-Hassan. Karam Halabiya is oftentimes mentioned among those that sustained injuries but he later died as a result of his wounds. A tweet from @ShahbaPress also mentions that three children and a woman were injured in the strikes.

Aside from causing death and injury, both @MMCSYR and @Alaraby reported that the strikes resulted in significant damage to residential buildings. A correspondent of Step New Agency also stated that the missile shelling in Ariha, that was part of a wider campaign of aerial and artillery shelling in the governorate of Idlib, caused massive displacement from people living in the southern countryside of Idlib, some of them having only recently returned to their homes after the Turkish-Russian armistice in mid-March.

Sources were conflicted as to who was responsible for the strike. More than 15 sources identified Syrian regime forces as the one having carried out the strikes. However, a multitude of sources, including @mhmdfaisal, @Weshal_TV, shaam, SCD and MMC attributed the strikes to regime forces as well as Russian armed forces. @pressrahhal was the only source who mentioned that Iranian forces took part in the strikes on Ariha.

MMC, Enab Baladi and Shaam News Network noted that the shelling possibly came in response to a car bomb explosion on international road “M4” during a joint Russian-Turkish patrol that allegedly wounded three Russian and one Turkish soldier.

According to the Syrian Civil Defence and @asma, the incident occurred in the afternoon.