Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS4507

Incident date

June 9, 2020

Location

ادلب المدينة, Idlib city, Idlib, Syria

Airwars assessment

Three children, Salah Ghajar, Huzaifa Saadeddin, Rand Saad Eddin, were killed on June 9, 2020 when an unexploded cluster bomb, a remnant of a previous airstrike on Idlib, exploded as they played in the garden of their home.

One source notes that Huzaifa and Rand were sister and brother, while several note that Salah was the last remaining survivor of his family, who were killed in a massacre in Wadi Al-Naseem over a year earlier. The victims of that massacre allegedly included Salah’s mother, father, and brothers.

Sources unanimously agreed that the deaths resulted from an unexploded bomb, which many state was a cluster bomb, that was dropped during a previous strike. Several sources claim that the bomb was the result of a Russian strike, while others do not mention the belligerent or state more ambiguously that the strike was from Russian-Syrian forces. Multiple sources note that children are especially vulnerable to unexploded ordnance, and many similar incidents have been recorded over the last several years. Several sources note that the home was located in an area of Idlib under the control of the group Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham and other armed factions. A nonprofit, Ataa Relief, claimed that their organization had sponsored Salah Ghajar after his family was killed in Wadi Al-Naseem.

The incident occured in the morning.

The victims were named as:

Family members (2)

The victims were named as:

Child male killed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3
  • (3 children)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Planted explosives and unexploded ordnance (UXO)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime
  • Suspected target
    Unknown

Sources (20) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • The three children killed on June 9th, 2020 by the explosion of a cluster bomb from previous bombing in Idlib City. (via SN4HR)
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Bodies of the children killed when an unexploded cluster bomb explored in Idlib on June 9, 2020. (Image posted by @anasanas84)

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3
  • (3 children)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Planted explosives and unexploded ordnance (UXO)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime
  • Suspected target
    Unknown

Sources (20) [ collapse]