Airwars assessment
On May 1st 2023, at around 11:35 pm, Israel allegedly conducted airstrikes southeast of Aleppo near al-Nayrab, reportedly injuring up to seven people, and killing between one to seven others. Two civilians were among those injured.
There were discrepancies amongst the casualty reports on how many of the affected were civilians as opposed to people actively involved in fighting. Syrian Arab News Agency, the Syrian-regime controlled news source, and military sources quoted in other media claim that two civilians and five military personnel were wounded in the incident and one soldier were killed. Multiple local sources posted a picture of an elderly civilian being treated for injuries. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that four regime forces and three fighters loyal to Iran were killed. Zaman al wasl also corroborated that Iranian militia were injured.
Baladi news identified three Syrian army forces killed, providing their names as Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Yunis Suleiman, Lieutenant Alaa Hussein Dayoub, and twenty five year old First Lieutenant Muhammad Fayez Melhem. Hassan Yunis Suleiman was a commander of an air defense system for the regime forces and hailed from the village of Sheikh Badr in Tartous governorate. Alaa Hussein came from the village of Bustan Al-Souj in the Tartous countryside, and Fayez Melhem came from the village of Sriji in the Sheikh Badr countryside.
According to Arabia News, the Israeli raids on Aleppo airport coincide with the imminent arrival of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi to Syria.
The strikes also shut down the Aleppo International Airport and according to Idleb on Twitter, hit a foodstuff warehouse and a factory for sifting bulger as well as damaging residential houses in al-Nayrab on Al-Baqar Market Street. Arabia News reported that air to surface missiles were used.
The incident occured at 23:35:00 local time.