Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

R4332

Incident date

July 2, 2021

Location

أريحا, Ariha, Idlib, Syria

Geolocation

35.81374, 36.60964 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

At least three civilians were injured in alleged Russian or regime strikes on the city of Ariha the evening of July 2, 2021.

According to Syrian Civil Defense, “3 civilians were injured, in a missile shelling by the regime forces targeting the northern entrance to the city of Ariha this evening, Friday, July 2nd”. Various other sources, including @IdlibPlus, also identified three civilians as being injured.

Ariha Today posted on Facebook the names of the three civilians injured: Ghassan Musab Al-Saleh from Khan Sheikhoun (M), Refaat Hussam Al-Bakri from Khan Sheikhoun (M) and Mohamed Zakwan from Ghandora Nahlia (M). 

The majority of sources attributed the strikes to regime forces. However, a tweet from @Almohrar1 referred to “Russian occupation militias” as carrying out the strikes in addition to @ilias90sam mentioning “#SyAF & maybe #RuAF” involved in the bombardment. Both airstrikes and artillery were reported as carried out on Ariha.

The incident occured in the evening.

The victims were named as:

Ghassan Musab Al-Saleh غسان مصعب الصالح
Age unknown male injured
Refaat Hussam Al-Bakri رفعات حسام البكري
Age unknown male injured
Mohamed Zakwan محمد زكوان
Age unknown male injured

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the town of Ariha (أريحا), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.81374, 36.60964. 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 and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    3
  • 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 (13) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]

  • Image of the damage to a vehicle caused by strikes on Ariha the evening July 2, 2021 and Civil Defense members inspecting the damage. (Image posted by Syrian Civil Defense)
  • One of the civilians injured in strikes on Ariha the evening July 2, 2021. (Image posted by Syrian Civil Defense)
  • Image of the damage to a vehicle caused by strikes on Ariha the evening July 2, 2021 and Civil Defense members inspecting the damage. (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 and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    3
  • 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 (13) [ collapse]