Up to eight civilians, including four to five children, were killed and up to 17 civilians, including between eight and nine children and a woman, were injured in alleged Russian airstrikes on the outskirts of Al-Jadida village and the outskirts of Al-Janoudia village on July 22, 2022.
The Syrian Civil Defense (@SyriaCivilDefe) tweeted that seven civilians, including four children from one family, were killed and 12 others, including eight children, were injured by Russian airstrikes on “a poultry farm inhabited by displaced people on the outskirts of Al-Jadida village, and civilian homes on the outskirts of Al-Janoudia village”. The Syrian Civil Defense later put the number of wounded at 13.
Syria TV provided the names of the children killed: Ikhlas (8 years), Muhammad (two years), Yusra (5 years), and Jana (4 years). Their father, Ayham al-Qattan, was also wounded during the bombing.
@SyriaCivilDefe described one of the children killed: “Ikhlas” the butterfly, as she likes to be called by her teacher at school, her dream was to become a doctor”.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) also identified seven people as being killed in the incident, specifying that four children, two men, and an unidentified person were among the seven, and that women and children were stranded under the rubble at the time of reporting. A tweet from @ALKhulbni in addition to Shaam News (@shaamnews) put the number of children killed at five.
Shorouk News quoted the German News Agency as reporting that “eight people were killed, including five children from one family, and 17 others were wounded.” @Ahmadmuaffaq reported that 14 others were wounded while Enab Baladi News referred to “more than 15 others” injured. Suhayb Al Khalaf reported on Facebook that some of the injured were taken to Turkey.
Euphrates Post quoted local sources who said that all of the children killed were under 10 years old and that most of the victims were displaced from Hama governorate, with Syria TV added that the Al-Qattan family had been displaced two years ago from the village of Al-Zayadia in the Al-Ghab Plain in Hama.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) provided information that specified the locations that the civilians were killed: “At least two missiles hit a bird coup and its vicinity, where a displaced family was sheltered, leading to the death of five civilians, including four children, siblings, while five other individuals were wounded. Another missile hit a house near the coup, causing the death of another civilian. SNHR notes that the same warplanes performed another air-strike on the south of al Jadida village, killing another civilian.”
Suhayb Al Khalaf added on Facebook that in the third raid (of four), a man who was passing by on his motorcycle was killed. The Washington Post reported that “another strike killed two men who had approached the scene after the initial attack,” potentially referring to the second strike, and also referred to another attack that struck civilian residences nearby, killing a man on a motorcycle.
Images posted by @SyriaCivilDefe show a mother saying goodbye to her child who was killed and a man covered in the blood of his four nephews who were killed. A video posted by journalist @abuhilalah shows the father of the children killed with the bodies of the children mourning over their death.
Ayham al-Qattan, 31, who lost four of his children, told AFP “My children are gone… They are dead, the thing dearest to my heart is gone,” adding that the attack took place while the family was sleeping in their home. Jusoor Post reported that after the first strike, al-Qattan was able to rescue his wife from under the rubble but he could not find his children: “I thought it was a nightmare, we crawled out” before the second strike.
An AFP reporter in the area said that the attack completely destroyed the house, and toys and clothes were scattered among the rubble. The Washington Post reported that the poultry farm that the family was living in was located in an olive grove.
Nawras Al-Ahmad, a volunteer with the White Helmets, said that “their dream is like a life without death and bombing and they return to their home from which they were displaced. Their dream ended with a missile from Russian planes and the hope of an entire family was eliminated. 4 brothers were martyred, and their father and mother were in the hospital” describing the family who lost four children.
Another White Helmets volunteer Ali Al-Naasan is a cousin of the victims, and said: “A very difficult situation when you respond to a place that was bombed, and there is someone dear to your heart, 4 innocent children who are my cousins, they became victims today, they loved me a lot and they love my work because I help the children, they were very happy when I visited them but today my visit to them is different, I went to retrieve them from under the rubble, their laughter, their joy and their sweet stories I will never forget all my life, and I will continue with my work.”
Adele Khader, UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, released a statement condemning the attack: “At least five children were killed and nine others were injured in an attack early this morning, west of Idlib, northwest Syria…Once again, we remind all parties that children must never be targeted. They should be protected at all times, wherever they are. The children of Syria deserve to live without violence or fear.”
Euphrates Post reported that according to the Syrian opposition’s “Air Traffic Tracking” observatory posted on social media that “a Russian warplane took off from the “Hmeimim Air Base” in Latakia and hit the predominantly Christian villages of Yacoubiya and Al-Jadida at 2:36 am GMT.” Syrian Network for Human Rights identified the planes that carried out the airstrikes as being “Su-34 fixed-wing warplanes, we believe were Russian”. The vast majority of other sources also attributed the incident to Russian forces, with only @ALKhulbni mentioning that the Syrian regime “sent the planes” without identifying if the planes were Russian or Syrian.
Rassd News reported that Russia did not comment on the accusations that it was responsible for the bombing.
The incident occured between 5:36 am and 5:50 am local time.
