Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

R4373

Incident date

August 16, 2021

Location

بلشون, Balshoun, Idlib, Syria

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.

The victims were named as:

Family members (1)

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    0 – 1
  • (0–1 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1–2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime
  • Suspected target
    Al Qaeda/HTS
  • Belligerents reported killed
    0–1

Sources (14) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (3) [ collapse]

  • 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)
  • 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)

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
    0 – 1
  • (0–1 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1–2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime
  • Suspected target
    Al Qaeda/HTS
  • Belligerents reported killed
    0–1

Sources (14) [ collapse]