Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Some local sources which reported the sounds of an explosion from an alleged US-led coalition drone strike in Harem, Idlib said that three ‘people’ were injured as a result of that on February 25th, 2021.
While most sources didn’t specify identities of those injured, @AlnahdaNews_24 said they were militants. “An unknown drone struck a point in the town of Harem in the northern countryside of Idlib, wounding three militants.”
Shaam Network and @NagiNajjar reported that three ‘people’ were wounded when a drone struck them in Harem, Idlib on Feb 25th.
Though Shaam Network didn’t blame any belligerent, @NagiNajjar attributed the attack to the US-led Coalition saying: “News of the cause of the explosion in the city of Harem is the targeting of a person by the international coalition, but his identity is not known yet.”
@AmmarAlzeer tweeted that “The International Coalition aviation launches several air strikes near the Harem area in the northern countryside of Idlib.”
However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the cause of the explosion is not known. They said that the explosion coincided with the presence of Coalition drone in the air, but it is unclear whether it is a Coalition strike or the detonation of a mine cave during the search for antiquities in the area.
Also Aram reported both stories. It said that an area of the military factions in Harem was hit by an explosion, either by a US-led coalition bombing, or by the explosion of mines during a search for antiquities in the area. “A video recording of the targeted site, showed that the target area was mountainous and contained rocks, and the bombing led to digging a hole in the place. The spokesman indicated in the recording that they did not know what the exact target was (a missile – a raid – an explosion) and explained that it did not lead to any damage.”
Local activists told Aram network that the explosion caused three casualties, which were transported to Harem Hospital, and most likely the result of an airstrike carried out by an International Coalition warplane on a point of the “Guardians of Religion Organization” faction in the Kfarmou region of Harem district.
They indicated that the aircraft belonging to the international coalition flew over the sky of the city of Idlib, the city of Salqin, and the city of Harem, on the border with Turkey, after the aforementioned targeting. Meanwhile, “Idlib Governorate Radio” denied on its Facebook page the news of the coalition raid in the vicinity of Harem, explaining that the explosion was caused by landmines that were detonated to search for antiquities by unknown persons.
In a civilian casualty assessment released July 13th 2021, the Coalition classed this event as ‘non credible’, claiming that “After a review of all available records it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties.”
The incident occured in the evening.
Summary
Sources (14) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (3) [ collapse]
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Image of a cave that some local sources said was detonated in Harem on February 25th in search of some antiquities. (image via Aramme).
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Harem (حارم), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.213082, 36.519177. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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Feb. 25, 2021, near Harem, Syria via Airwars report. After a review of all available records it was assessed that no Coalition actions were conducted in the geographical area that corresponds to the report of civilian casualties. 3294/CS1956 37SBA769104