Geolocation
Airwars assessment
At least one civilian was killed and another was injured in an alleged drone strike on the village of Khirbat al-Naqus in the Al-Ghab Plain on April 19, 2021.
Syria.liveuamap geolocated the incident.
According to Resala Post, “a civilian was killed and another was injured due to being targeted by a drone in the village of Khirbet al-Naqus in the western Hama countryside.”
Zaiton added that “the Civil Defense reported that a drone targeted the two young men while they were fishing in the Asi River near the village of Khirbet al-Naqus in al-Ghab Plain, west of Hama.” An image posted shows White Helmets treating the wounded man.
Shaam News also reported that “a young man was killed and another was wounded,” and that “the Syrian Civil Defense teams treated the injured to the hospital, and transported the body of the young man, who was displaced from the village of Balyun, and delivered it to his family in the town of Mhambel, south of Idlib.” They did not identify who was responsible but that Russian, regime, and Iranian drones had been used in the area before.
Al Araby alleged that Iran was responsible for the strike, naming the man killed as Ahmed Al-Rabie. According to Al Araby, the victims were fishermen and the “Iranian drone targeted his workplace while fishing on the banks of the Orontes River.” Zaman Al Wasl and Syria TV also blamed Iran for the drone strike.
Baladi News attributed the drone to the regime and Russian forces and included an image of White Helmets removing the body of the civilian killed. Syrian Today identified the regime as operating the drone, while the Syrian Network for Human Rights blamed Russian forces.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (17) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]
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Caption translation: Today, Monday, a civilian was killed and another wounded, as a result of targeting them by a suicide drone in Khirbet al-Naqus in the al-Ghab Plain, west of Hama. The Civil Defense reported that a drone targeted the two young men while they were fishing in the Asi River near the village of Khirbet al-Naqus in al-Ghab Plain, west of Hama. (Image posted by Zaiton)
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Caption translation: A civilian was killed, and another was wounded this evening, Monday, in the bombing of a regime forces' drone in the Al-Ghab Plain, west of Hama. Baladi News correspondent in Hama said that the young man, "Ahmed Mustafa Al-Rabee," died and another was wounded, as a result of an aerial bombardment of a drone by the regime and Russian forces near the village of Khirbet al-Naqus in Sahl al-Ghab in the western countryside of Hama. (Image posted by Baladi News)
Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention the Orontes, or Asi river (العاصي) in the vicinity of Khirbet Al Naqus (خربة الناقوس) village. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for the river closest to Khirbet Al Naqus are: 35.644802, 36.286705.