Airwars assessment
During the morning of Saturday, November 25, 2023, an artillery shelling allegedly perpetrated by Syrian regime forces and/or Russian forces on the village of Qoqfin in Jabal al-Zawiya, south of the town of Idlib, killed at least 10 and up to 11 civilians who were working in the olive fields harvesting olive crop, including at least seven children one woman and two men, and injured at least one woman, 50-year old Khadija Ibrahim. Khadija was the only survivor of the deadly attack in which she lost her husband and their three children.
All the victims were relatives and belonged either to one or two related families. Some sources reported that “several” civilians were injured. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), nine people died immediately on the spot, and one child died later as a result of the inflicted injuries. SOHR added that the number of the victims could rise as some wounded were in serious condition. Later Twitter/X accounts @zelal_katee and @molhamteam reported that the number of the victims reached 11. The Twitter/X user @alaaaldin_yousf posted pictures from the funerals of the victims. According to Abdul Hamid Qatini, a volunteer in the Syrian Civil Defense, the attack happened in the morning.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reported that the Syrian regime artillery forces allegedly fired multiple shells at Qoqfin village. Referring to a local source, Rozana news informed that the artillery shelling came from the positions of Syrian regime forces in the Shulin area, close to the village. Enab Baladi news added that “the Syrian regime’s artillery and missile bombardment coincided with the flight of Russian reconnaissance planes over the area since the early hours of the morning”, so the Russian military might have allegedly supported this attack. Where sources identified the belligerent, the majority of the sources attributed the strike to Syrian regime forces, with a number of sources attributing the bombing to both Russian forces and Syrian regime forces, or to Russian forces only.
The Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) news as well as the Facebook post by Omran Shnan included the names of the identified victims of the attack. 50-year old Abdullah Muhammad Al-Saeed, presumably Khadija Ibrahim’s husband, was killed together with their three children – four-year old Hussein Abdullah Al-Saeed, 12-year old Asmaa Abdullah Al-Saeed and 16-year old Ahmed Abdullah Al-Saeed. Among the victims was also 48-year old Aisha Muhammad Al-Saeed, 20-year old Ibrahim Abdullah Qadi, 15-year old Huda Abdullah Qadi, 16-year old Heba Abdullah Qadi and three-year old Amna Abdullah Qadi. It was reported by SHRC news that the tenth victim was not identified. The name of the child who died from the injuries later was not provided in the sources either.
The Syrian Civil Defense reported that its crew had recovered the bodies of some of the victims of the strike and transported the injured people to the hospital, amid “great difficulty in reaching them due to regime forces monitoring the area”. It also featured the injured Khadija Ibrahim being transported to the hospital.
Additionally, the Civil Defense posted on Twitter/X social media platform a video and pictures from the place of the deadly attack where one can see a cap and a toy horse, accompanying it with the words full of grief: “It was a place full of life and hope, the happiest moments after a year of waiting to harvest the olives, turned into a tragedy… everything was scattered… bodies, souls and dreams… a scene repeated every season and a different kind of war that haunts the residents in their daily livelihood.”
Journalist M. faisal (@mhmdfaisel) also shared an emotional video on Twitter/X social media platform where he was standing in the the olive fields holding a toy horse that belonged to one of the deceased children in his hands and speaking about the children who had lost their lives in this attack.
In another touching video shared by the Syrian Civil Defense, a young boy Ahmed who lost his mother and five siblings in this incident was shown crying “I want my mother… I want to see my mother.”
The incident occured in the morning.
The victims were named as:
Family members (10)
Summary
Sources (53) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (47) [ collapse]
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Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
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Source: @SyriaCivilDefe -
Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
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Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
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Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
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Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
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Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
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Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
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Source: @nahermedia
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Source: @aboalhodaalhoms
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Source: @molhamteam
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Source: @molhamteam
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Source: @alaaaldin_yousf
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Source: @alaaaldin_yousf
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Source: @alaaaldin_yousf
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Source: @alaaaldin_yousf
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Source: SNHR news
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Source: Omar al Baw
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Source: Mohammed Al Abdo -
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Source: Mohammed Al Abdo -
Source: Abo Amin 80 observatory
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Source: Abo Amin 80 observatory
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Source: Abo Amin 80 observatory
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Source: Abo Amin 80 observatory
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