(Previous Incident Code: R4527)

On the morning of July 9, 2023, the town of Al Bara, Syria, was reportedly hit with shelling directed by Russian and/or Syrian government forces. As a result of this, three children were reported wounded, with one, a seven year old boy, subsequently dying due to his injuries. According to local sources, multiple civilian homes were damaged.

In its reporting of this incident, Shaam Network stated, “3 children were injured, one of them seriously, in artillery shelling by the regime forces and Russia, which targeted civilian homes in the town of Al-Bara, south of Idlib, in a continuation of the attacks against civilians.” The Syrian Human Rights Committee published the names of the injured children: Mohamed Salah Al-Arab, 7 years old; Omran Salah Al-Arab, 5 years old; Tala Salah Al-Arab, a year and a half.

While reports initially stated all three children had been wounded, on July 18, the @SyriaCivilDefe stated on Twitter that a seven year old boy named Mohamed Salah Al-Arab had died ‘as a result of his wounds sustained in artillery shelling by the regime forces and Russia, which targeted the residential neighborhoods of the town of Al-Bara, south of Idlib.”

Following this event, Noon Post published photographs showing children receiving medical treatment, and damage to a roof. Further photographs, showing damage to what appears to be a residential building, were published by @SyriaCivilDefe.