Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS4372

Incident date

January 27, 2020

Location

سرجة, Sarja, Idlib, Syria

Airwars assessment

Four civilians, including a man and his two sons, were killed and up to three civilians were injured by alleged Russian or Syrian regime airstrikes on the town of Sarja, Idlib governorate on January 27th, 2020, according to local media reports.

Step News said: “The reporter of the Step News Agency in Idlib, Hassan Al-Muhammad, said that Russian planes targeted the Sarja town of Jabal Al-Zawiya in the middle of last night with vacuum missiles, which resulted in the death of 5 civilians, including a civil defense volunteer, and the wounding of others, while civil defense teams are still searching for people trapped under the rubble of their homes.”

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said: “The brothers Abdul Baset and Muhammad Hasan Haj Musa were killed along with their father on January 27, as fixed-wing warplanes we believe were Russian fired missiles on Sarja village in Jabal al Zaweya area in the southern suburbs of Idlib governorate. The victims’ bodies were pulled out from under the rubbles on January 28.”

@AhmedDekhan reported: “Brothers and colleagues Mohamed Jamil and Abdul Basit, sons of Hassan Haj Mousa. All of them became martyrs with their father today, after a Russian hate raid on the village of Sarja”

@ahmedalasi said a family was trapped under the rubble of their home for 12 hours after planes reportedly targeted those who came to assist them. Four dead civilians were pulled from the rubble and a further three were injured according to the source.

Sources either said the strikes were carried out by Russia or the combined actions of Russia and the Syrian regime. One source said the strikes were carried out by the Syrian regime alone.

The incident might be related to R4124, which took place near Sarja. The Syrian Civil Defense volunteer Step News reported as having been killed has not been included within the estimated civilian casualties for this assessment.

The incident occured around midnight.

The victims were named as:

Family members (4)

Age unknown male killed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3 – 4
  • (3 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–3
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attacker
    Unknown

Sources (12) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    The bodies of civilians killed following alleged Russian or Syrian regime airstrikes on the town of Sarja, Idlib governorate on Janaury 27th, 2020 (via SN4HR)
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    The bodies of civilians killed following alleged Russian or Syrian regime airstrikes on the town of Sarja, Idlib governorate on Janaury 27th, 2020. (Uploaded by @ahmedalasi)
  • An image of one of the victims of alleged strikes by Russian or Syrian regime warplanes on the town of Sarja, Idlib governorate on January 27th, 2020. (Uploaded by @AhmedDekhan)
  • An image of one of the victims of alleged strikes by Russian or Syrian regime warplanes on the town of Sarja, Idlib governorate on January 27th, 2020. (Uploaded by @AhmedDekhan)

Unknown Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Unknown
  • Unknown position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3 – 4
  • (3 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–3
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attacker
    Unknown

Sources (12) [ collapse]