Airwars assessment
Between two and four civilians were reported killed and between 13 and 15 civilians sustained injuries as a result of alleged Russian airstrikes on the vicinity of the town of Al Hamama, west of Idlib on October 14, 2020. More specifically, a tweet from Halab Today TV mentioned that the Russian Air Forces attacked the Al-Harsh area near the town. A correspondent from Fresh reported that the Russians attacked the forest areas on the outskirts of Al Hamama and that “[i]n the targeted area, dozens of tents for the displaced are spread in the bushes and mountainous areas.” Multiple sources mentioned that Russia carried out the raids “after weeks of absence from the air” and despite the existence of a truce in Idlib that Turkey concluded with Russia in mid-March, according to Step News Agency.
Regarding civilian harm, @Mohamed2Aldaher and others said that two civilians were killed and 13 wounded as an initial outcome. Step News Agency said that the Russian airstrikes resulted in two deaths and 15 wounded, after initially reporting that 1 person died and 13 were wounded. Shaam added that the civilian casualties included people working in olive harvest workshops.
Enab Baldi and Jesrpress respectively reported three and four deaths. However, according to Enab Baldi “it was not known whether the bombing had targeted military or civilian headquarters.” Similarly, Jesrpress mentioned that “Russian forces claimed that the targeted location [was] a camp belonging to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham in the area”, thus casting doubt on the status of the casualties.
Two sources specifically claimed that there were casualties among belligerents. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, “[t]he strikes targeted the headquarters and camps of Tahrir al-Sham and jihadist groups, killing four fighters so far and injuring others.” Similarly, Syria TV reported that according to local sources, camps belonging to the “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” were located in the forests of Al Hamama town and “that there were deaths and injuries among the members of the “Hayat”, in addition to the presence of people trapped under the rubble.” (do you report on belligerent casualties in the summary?)
In addition to civilian harm, correspondents of Syria TV mentioned that “the raids caused panic among the displaced people who live in dozens of camps located in the vicinity of the villages near the forests of the town of [Al Hamama].”
All sources attributed the airstrikes to the Russian Armed Forces. Enab Baldi reported that eight missile strikes were carried out by three Russian warplanes, while Russian reconnaissance planes were flying overhead. Al Hadath and @syriapostnew1 claimed that Russia fired more than 10 missiles. According to @|IonbakGhDQLgt4c and Enab Baldi, the Russian warplanes attacked Al Hamama with vacuum missiles.
The incident allegedly took place in the morning. Urgent tweets on the attack appeared as early as 8:55 AM local time.
The incident occured in the morning.
Summary
Sources (31) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]
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Syrian Civil Defense reported airstrikes in Jisr Al-Shughur (Image via Alhadath / Facebook)
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"Two martyrs and 13 wounded as an initial outcome as a result of the targeting of the Russian aggression’s warplanes with 8 air raids, Harsh “Al-Hamamah” in the Jisr Al-Shughur countryside, west of Idlib" (Image via @liveuamar / Twitter)
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"Russian warplanes launch raids on the village of Al-Hamamah in the countryside of Jisr Al-Shughur, west of Idlib, Syria, resulting in deaths and injuries" (Image via @alestiklal / Twitter)
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"A number of civilians were killed and wounded, as Russian warplanes launched several air raids on the town of "Al-Hamamah" in the western Idlib countryside" (Image via @MoussaMas1 / Twitter)