Airwars assessment
Two men with a contested civilian status were killed inside a car by an airstrike and/or drone strike and/or detonation of an explosive device allegedly carried out by the Israeli forces shortly before 6:52 PM on Monday, July 15, 2024, in the Saboura area on the road to the Lebanese border in Damascus, Syria.
One of the victims killed, Mohammad Baraa Qaterji, born in 1976 in Raqqa, was a businessman and an owner of Al-Qatirji Oil Company with close ties to President Assad of Syria. In a photo shared by the sources, he is wearing a navy blue suit with a salmon pink shirt next to Bashar Al Assad. Other pictures showed him in an office, wearing a white shirt and a light blue suit, and another where he was dressed in jeans, a blue t-shirt, and a dark jacket. He was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatirji Holding Group, according to FB user Mohmed Soliman.
The sources alleged that Mohammad Baraa Qaterji was responsible for multiple massacres against civilians and purchased oil from ISIS. He was reportedly on the US sanction list and funded Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed paramilitary groups in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, according to Twitter/X user @cr7_50_. In addition, Facebook user Mohamad Abd Alhamed Mahlool stated the businessman was killed for demanding a significant debt from the Syrian government, and for refusing to comply with the shipment prices set by the regime.
One of the sources, Twitter/X user @Msbb7E, claimed that Mohammad Qaterji was a Hezbollah commander. According to Orient Today media outlet, Bara and his brothers Houssam and Mohammad Agha had already formed an armed militia, the “Qaterji Group,” mainly based in Aleppo province, which notably participated in the city’s siege in 2016. According to the SOHR, Qaterji, known to be close to Iran, was responsible for funding the Syrian Resistance Faction for the Liberation of the Golan (annexed by Israel), a group founded by Hezbollah in 2014 to conduct operations against Israel from southern Syria. Based on this information, the civilian status of Mohammad Baraa Qaterji is contested.
Anas Katraj mourned the death of Mohammad on Facebook, calling him “the great man of Aleppo, the great man of Al-Naeem, the master of manhood, my cousin, my brother, my father, our great man.” Facebook user Hasheme called the two victims “two symbols of the Naim tribe.”
The other victim killed was identified as Ahmad Abdulmu’ti (Abdel Moati) Qaterji, also a middle-aged man. In a photo posted by the sources, he is wearing a white tunic near the Kaaba. Another Facebook user, Abeer, claimed Ahmad was related to Mohammad Baraa Qaterji, perhaps as his cousin.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) quoted by Orient Today, the individual accompanying Mohammad Baraa Qaterji was likely a Hezbollah member. Therefore, the civilian status of Ahmad Qaterji is also contested. Facebook user Mohammed Alkhalid posted a photo of the funeral with a large gathering of people.
Multiple photos and videos shared on social media showed the ablaze vehicle on the road.
The strike type remains unclear as some sources claimed it was an airstrike while others reported a drone strike, and Shaam News alleged that the cause of death could have been the detonation of an explosive device, but did not connect that to a specific belligerent. Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the attack to the Israeli military.
The incident occured at approximately 6:52 pm local time.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (20) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (17) [ collapse]
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Source: @Ahmad_1alshble
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Source: @Ahmad_1alshble
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Source: @Ahmad_1alshble
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Source: @Msbb7E
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Source: @Msbb7E
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Source: Anas katraj
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Source: Syra
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Source: Mohammad
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Source: Mohmmed
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Source: Abeer
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Source: Mohammed
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