Airwars assessment
Between two and five civilians were killed in alleged Russian or Syrian regime artillery strikes on the village of Tarhin, Aleppo governorate, on February 9th, 2021, according to local sources. Up to 10 civilians, including children, were injured.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported: “SOHR activists say that five people, including three unidentified, were killed and four others were injured, this evening, in surface-to-surface missiles fired by the Russian military base in Hmeimim on the oil refineries in the village of Tarhin in the areas held by Turkish-backed factions in Aleppo countryside. The strikes resulted in fires and significant damage to civilians’ property.” The SOHR, however, added that other sources reported that the missiles came from the military academy in Aleppo.
The Syrian Civil Defence wrote on Facebook: “One dead, a number of injured and huge fires by the missile strikes that targeted the primitive fuel refineries in the village of Tarhin, east of Aleppo, this evening, Tuesday, February 9th, our teams are working to search for survivors in addition to extinguishing the fires burning in the place.”
On their website, the SCD wrote that a Toshka surface-to-surface missile loaded with cluster bombs was fired on the village, “which led to the killing of two civilians and wounding four others, as well as the outbreak of very large fires due to the nature of the area, which includes a large number of fuel tanks and primitive refineries.”
Assad Al Zalam posted the names of four victims on Facebook: the men Abdul Hadi Al Hammadi and Muhammad Al Hammadi were killed, while Omar Jumaa Al Ahmad and Abdullah Al Ahmad were reported injured. The source added that the wounded were brought to Al Bab Al Jadid Hospital.
Activists told Shaam News Network that “several long-range missiles targeted the oil burners in the village of Tarhin in the countryside of Aleppo, causing a martyr to fall and wounded among civilians, including children.”
According to Syria News, illegal oil refining burners of Turkey-affiliated militants were targeted, leading to injuries among “the gunmen”, indicating that combatants were injured in the strikes.
@IdlibPlus reported five killed people and a number of injured on the Haragat area of the village of Tarhin. A local source told North Press Agency Syria that “five civilians were killed and ten others were wounded, as a preliminary outcome, with a ground-to-ground missile that targeted Haragat sites in the village of Tarhin, in the eastern countryside of Aleppo.”
Anadolu Agency said that “at least six ballistic missiles fell on the Tarhin area, killing two civilians and wounding six others, in an initial outcome.” @Sy24ria tweeted that three civilians were killed and four others were injured.
Al Modon wrote: “A military source in the National Army confirmed to Al Modon that the Toshka-type surface-to-surface missiles were loaded with cluster bombs from the regime-controlled areas, targeting the town of Tarhin.”
Sources blamed both Russia and the Syrian regime for the strikes.
The incident occured in the evening.
The victims were named as:
Family members (2)
Family members (2)
Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention the oil refineries in the area west of the village of Tarhin (ترحين) being struck. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Tarhin are are: 36.516944, 37.541389