Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

R4308

Incident date

May 23, 2021

Location

كفرعويد, Kafar Awaid, Idlib, Syria

Geolocation

35.627024, 36.455984 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

At least one civilian was killed in a cluster bomb explosion on May 23, 2021 left over from previous bombing by the regime or Russia on the village of Kafar Awaid.

According to the Syrian Civil Defense, “a civilian was killed, this morning, Sunday, May 23, after a cluster bomb exploded in the village of Kafr Awaid, south of Idlib, left over from previous bombing by the regime and Russia.”

Syria TV reported that “the young man, Ismail Qutaish, from the town of Maarzita, died during his visit to his brother in the village of Kafr Aweed, as a result of the explosion of a cluster bomb from the remnants of a previous bombing by the regime and Russia.”

Spot News Agency identified the civilian as being killed “while he was working to harvest the “cherry” crop in the farms surrounding the town of “Al-Bara”.

Radio Al Kul added that Civil Defense teams “transferred the body of the victim (whose age was not specified) to the forensic medical center in Idlib to be handed over to his family.”

The date that the cluster bomb was dropped on Kafar Awaid is unknown.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Age unknown male from the town of Maarzita killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Kafar Awaid (كفرعويد), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.627024, 36.455984. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • 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 belligerents
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (5) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • Caption translation: A civilian was killed, this morning, Sunday, May 23, after a cluster bomb exploded in the village of Kafr Awaid, south of Idlib, left over from previous bombing by the regime and Russia. (Image posted by Syrian Civil Defense)

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
    1
  • (1 man)
  • 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 belligerents
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (5) [ collapse]