Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Between nine and 14 civilians including two children and one women were killed and 30 others injured in airstrikes on a children’s and women’s hospital in Azaz, according to local sources – though reports were conflicted as to whether this was the work of Russia or the Assad regime.
Activists told Shaam News Network that “the Russian air force targeted the city of Izaz today with more than 13 air raids, which were followed by a direct targeting of field hospitals with ballistic missiles launched by Russian warships in the Mediterranean carrying cluster bombs“. They put the death toll at more than 10 non-combatants with 30 wounded, some in critical condition.
The Health Directorate in Idlib province issued a statement regarding the Russian raids that targeted field hospitals on February 15th in rural Idlib and Aleppo, which was published by SNN. This said that a “ballistic missile was launched from the Russian warships in the Mediterranean, hit the city of Izaz in the countryside of Aleppo, at precisely a quarter past eight targeting the Obstetrics and Women’s Hospital and leaving a large and injuries among the civilian and devastation led to the destruction of the hospital completely and leaving it out of service. Ten people were killed including three children and a pregnant woman and more than thirty others were injured.“
A video posted by SNN, entitled “The day of the destruction of hospitals: 5 main medical centres are out of service as a result of the planes and missiles of the Russian enemy“, showed the moments bombs were dropped before cutting to footage of destruction of buildings. The video is not specific only to this incident.
Reuters reported that “Fourteen people were killed in the town of Azaz near the Turkish border when missiles slammed into a school sheltering families fleeing the offensive and a children’s hospital, two residents and a medic said.” However it did not say who was responsible for the incident.
Images showing “destruction caused by the missile and air strikes on places in the vicinity of a hospital in Azaz city north of Aleppo province” were published by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which also did not say who carried out the attacks.
But according to an initial report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the regime fired surface to surface missiles on the gynecological and children’s hospital, damaging two ambulances. A second SN4HR report, which again blamed “regime shelling“, said that at least five died including two children and a woman.
However, in a third report, SN4HR appeared to change their position and attribute the incident to Russia: “On 15 Feb 2016 alleged Russian warplanes launched a long range missile on a .trucks gathering in Azzaz city in northern Aleppo suburbs which killed 6 individuals including a child and a woman“.
According to the Violations Documentation Center, 8 civilians were killed in regime shelling.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (12) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
Russian Military Assessment:
Original strike reports
From February 10th – February 16th, Russia reported: “On February 10-16, aircraft of the Russian aviation group in the Syrian Arab Republic have performed 444 combat sorties engaging 1593 terrorists’ objects in the provinces of Deir ez-Zor, Daraa, Homs, Hama, Latakia and Aleppo.” They published the following is response to civilian casualty allegations in Azaz: