(Previous Incident Codes: R4288RS4529)

One civilian was reportedly killed and five others were injured after an alleged airstrike by a Russian or Syrian or Iranian drone on agricultural lands in the village of Taltuna, west of  Ma’arat Misrin north of Idlib on the morning of October 31st, 2020 according to local sources.

According to sources including Orient news and Halab Today TV, one civilian was killed and five others were injured and transferred to medical points for treatment after a drone bombed an agricultual area in the vicinity of the city of Ma’arat Misrin. Specifically, the Democratic Union mentioned on Facebook that activists said that a “suicide drone” bombed an “effective olive-picking workshop” in the village of Taltuna, near Ma’arat Maisrin and an activist called Wedad Hamad (@Gurbtwatan) reported that the victims were agricultural workers harvesting olives.

Most of the sources that reported on the incident either did not mention the belligerent behind the attack or stated that the airstrike was by an “unidentified drone”. Few others including the Democratic Union and Masar Press network claimed that the drone was Russian. Sham News as well reported that the Syrian Civil Defence “revealed the nature of the recent strikes in Idlib countryside from a reconnaissance plane believed to be Russian, which targeted an area west of the city of Ma’arat Misrin, pointing out that its bombs are equipped with mines intended for detonation with wires”. On the other hand, a tweet by (@Gurbtwatan) mentioned that the drone likely belongs to the Syrian regime, and another tweet by (@NagiNajjar) claimed that the drone involved in the attack was Iranian.

Note that according to a post by Radio Al-Kul the attack happened while “the entire liberated areas in Idlib governorate were subject to a Turkish-Russian ceasefire agreement after March 5, 2020”, and Masar News network reported that alleged Russian drones “intensified their overflights over the city of Idlib and Jabal al-Zawiya, where they monitor and target any movements of civilians in the area” and added that thousands of civilians in the areas of northwest Syria “go to agricultural lands to pick their crops, in light of the artillery and air bombardment chasing them.”