Airwars assessment
A least one man was killed and one to two other civilians were killed in alleged Russian or regime strikes on the town of Balshoun on August 16, 2021. Sources are contested as to whether the man killed was a civilian or a belligerent.
The correspondent for @HalabTodayTV reported that a civilian was killed in artillery shelling by the regime forces. @Step_Agency added that another civilian was also wounded in the strikes.
Both @mohmad_rasheed and @IdlibPlus identified “others” as being injured in the strikes but did not provide a number. Arab Turkey News reported that two other civilians were injured in the strikes.
@Jv5As provided names of the victims of the strikes: Basel Harmoush was killed and the Ibrahim Khaled Harmoush was injured.
A Facebook post by Nidal Qaddour alleged that Basel Harmoush was an “official of the checkpoints of the terrorist Al-Nusra Front, nicknamed Abu Hammam”. However, all other sources that reported on the incident referred to all of the victims of the incident as civilians.
The location of the strikes was identified by various sources as both the Al-Rami checkpoint and/or civilian homes in Balshoun.
The majority of sources attributed the strikes to the regime. However, @mohmad_rasheed blamed both the regime and Russia while @ibrahim78197182 identifies only Russia as being responsible for the strikes. Various sources identified a guided missile or a Krasnopol missile as being used.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (14) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (3) [ collapse]
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This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Very graphic image of Basel Harmoush, killed in strikes on the town of Balshoun on August 16, 2021. (Image posted by @Jv5As) -
Image of Basel Harmoush, killed in strikes on the town of Balshoun on August 16, 2021. (Image posted by Nidal Qaddour via Facebook)
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This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Very graphic image of Basel Harmoush, killed in strikes, and the location of the strikes on the town of Balshoun on August 16, 2021. (Image posted by Samer Khaled via Facebook)