Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

R4392

Incident date

September 19, 2021

Location

الكفير, Al Kafir, Idlib, Syria

Geolocation

35.781561, 36.321330 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

A least one civilian, a child, was killed and up to five others, including a woman, were injured in alleged regime or Russian strikes on the town of Al Kafir on September 19, 2021.

Firas Al-Khalifa, the media official of the Syrian Civil Defense in Idlib, told Al-Araby News that a 15-year-old boy was killed, and a woman was injured as a result of the Syrian regime’s artillery shelling on the town of Kafir.

Syrian Network for Human Rights published the name of the child killed: Abdul Hadi Salman.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also identified a child as being killed in the strikes but put the number of civilians injured at five. Various other sources reported that “others” were wounded or “a number” of wounded resulted from the strikes but did not identify how many.

The Syria TV correspondent said that the Syrian Civil Defense teams (White Helmets) transported the body of the child and treated the victim to the hospital for treatment, and also secured the targeted area.

The majority of sources attributed the shelling to the Syrian regime, with Nedaa Post identifying 7 rocket launchers belonging to regime forces stationed near the town of Gorin as being the source of the shelling. However, Syrian Civil Defense and @IdlibPlus referred to both Russia and the regime as being responsible and Resala Post blamed Russia.

The incident occured in the morning.

The victims were named as:

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 child)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1–5
  • 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

Sources (38) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (11) [ collapse]

  • Members of the White Helmets help victims of a shelling attack on Al Kafir on September 19, 2021. (Image posted by Syrian Civil Defense)
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Graphic image of Abdul Hadi Salman, killed in a shelling attack on Al Kafir on September 19, 2021. (Image posted by @IdlibPlus)
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Graphic image of Abdul Hadi Salman, killed in a shelling attack on Al Kafir on September 19, 2021. (Image posted by @Ahmadmuaffaq)
  • Funeral for Abdul Hadi Salman, killed in a shelling attack on Al Kafir on September 19, 2021. (Image posted by @WM_FREESYR)
  • Funeral for Abdul Hadi Salman, killed in a shelling attack on Al Kafir on September 19, 2021. (Image posted by @WM_FREESYR)
  • Funeral for Abdul Hadi Salman, killed in a shelling attack on Al Kafir on September 19, 2021. (Image posted by @ZaitunAgency)
  • Funeral for Abdul Hadi Salman, killed in a shelling attack on Al Kafir on September 19, 2021. (Image posted by @ZaitunAgency)
  • Funeral for Abdul Hadi Salman, killed in a shelling attack on Al Kafir on September 19, 2021. (Image posted by @ZaitunAgency)
  • Shelling of the village of Al Kafir on September 19, 2021. (Image posted by @Worldarabsnews)

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Al Kafir (الكفير), for which  the generic coordinates are: 35.781561, 36.321330. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

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
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 child)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1–5
  • 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

Sources (38) [ collapse]