Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

R4515

Incident date

May 29, 2023

Location

معارة النعسان, Maaret Al Nassan, Aleppo, Syria

Airwars assessment

On 29th May 2023 three civilians, a man and his two children, were injured by machine gun fire and/or artillery shelling in the town of Maarat al-Nassan, east of Idlib.  The victims were treated locally before being sent to hospital. Sources were conflicted as to whether the Syrian regime and/or Russian forces were responsible.

Several sources reported the injuries had been caused by machine gun fire while two others reported they had been caused by artillery shelling (@Syr_television, @radioAlKul). The confusion may have arisen because of a separate attack – the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the initial machine gun attack in Maarat al-Nassan invited a response from rebel groups to which the Syrian regime initiated bouts of artillery shelling.

Both the Syrian Civil Defense (@SyriaCivilDefe) and Nedaa Post attributed the incident to both the Syrian regime and Russia while the other sources blamed only the Syrian regime. Neither the Syrian regime nor Russian forces have claimed responsibility for the attack.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery, Ground operation
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    3
  • Causes of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions, Small arms and light weapons
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (7) [ collapse]

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery, Ground operation
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    3
  • Causes of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions, Small arms and light weapons
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (7) [ collapse]