Geolocation
Airwars assessment
At least one civilian was killed and between one and two civilians were injured in an alleged Russian missile strike in the vicinity of Qah and Salwa towns the afternoon of March 21, 2021.
Multiple sources, including Syrian Civil Defense and Reuters, reporting that the strike was ” a surface-to-surface missile.” Idlib EMC stated that “Russian battleships on the Syrian coast, with a ground-to-ground missile, targeted the town of Qah.” Other sources referred to the strike as a ballistic missile or a long-range missile. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that at the time, “it is not known yet if the missile was fired by a warship near the Syrian coastline or from the Russian base in Hmeimim.”
The location struck was identified as being near internally displaced persons camps and Jisr Press specifically reported that the missile landed near Atmeh Camp. Step News reported that ” a long-range ballistic missile fell on the headquarters of the 23rd of the Sham Legion,” a Syrian opposition faction, and the civilian and animals injured and killed were close to the vicinity. The area struck was also identified by Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as being “a military headquarters of opposition faction” but that the area contains “a large number of refugee camps which host displaced people” and is near the “Syria border with Iskenderun region.”
According to Syrian Civil Defense, the strikes resulted in ” the serious injury of a civilian and the death of a number of livestock.” Jisr Press reported “the death of a large number of livestock and the injury of a shepherd in the aforementioned area. It is reported that he later died of his injury.” A tweet from @dr_aalassad identified two civilians as being injured and Al Modon news reported that the strike “resulted in the injury of a child who was grazing sheep in the area.”
Images posted by SCD Idlib show animals that were killed in the airstrike and White Helmets inspecting the area. A video posted by @Step_Agency and images posted by other sources show the smoke cloud in the sky following the strike.
Syrian Civil Defense attributed the strike to regime and Russian forces, while all other sources identified the strikes as being Russian, from the Russian base in Hmeimim, or from Russian battleships.
The incident occured in the afternoon.
Summary
Sources (20) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (7) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the vicinity of Qah (قاح). According to research conducted by @obretix, the exact location of this strike is: 36.299148, 36.739667. Cross referencing evidence from audio-visual material from sources, we can confirm this location.