Incident Codes

CS759 RS2209

Location

عويجل, Oweijal, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.179537, 36.952987
Accuracy: Village

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: December 15, 2024

(Previous Incident Codes: S669R2069)

Between 13 and 16 civilians died and four were injured in an “unexplained” explosion in the village of Oweijal, local media said – though it was unclear whether the Coalition, the Syrian regime or Russia were to blame. Most sources blamed the Syrian regime for the strikes.

An unspecific numbers of civilians were wounded, however it was reported that the number of civilians were likely to rise due to the types of injuries.

According to the Smart News Agency, “the head of the Civil Defence in the western Aleppo countryside, Mohamed Halaq, said that the blast caused the collapse of a three-storey building on Sunday evening, killing 16 civilians, including nine children and four women, in addition to wounding for more, who rushed to a nearby field hospital.

“Halaq pointed out that they could not determine the cause of the explosion, but that it was likely the result of an international coalition raid or a missile explosion from a previous bombardment of the village.”

However, a subsequent report by Smart pointed towards the Assad regime and Russia, saying that “the Civil Defence thinks the explosion could have resulted from the remnants of previous raids by the regime and Russia.”

Radio Allkul blamed a regime surface to surface missile citing Abu al-Leith, the director of the local Civil Defence. Shaam News Network and Baladi also attributed the event to the regime.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights added that “information about the reasons of the explosion was conflicted as to whether it was caused by the explosion of an ammunition dump, or by shelling by regime forces using what was believed to be a ground-to-ground missile.”

Key Information

Country
Civilian Harm Reported
Yes
Civilian Harm Status
Contested
Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
Civilians reported killed
13–16
4–9 Children, 4–5 Women
Civilians reported injured
2–4

Geolocation Notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Oweijal (عويجل), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.179537, 36.952987. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Military Statements

U.S.-led Coalition Assessment
Suspected belligerent
U.S.-led Coalition
U.S.-led Coalition position on incident
Not yet assessed
U.S.-led Coalition Strike Report
The Coalition has not publicly reported any strikes in Aleppo governorate for April 30th-May 2nd.
Syrian Regime Assessment
Suspected belligerent
Syrian Regime
Syrian Regime position on incident
Not yet assessed
Russian Military Assessment
Suspected belligerent
Russian Military
Russian Military position on incident
Not yet assessed

Media From Sources (3)