Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

R4467

Incident date

September 8, 2022

Location

الغفر, Al Ghafir, Idlib, Syria

Airwars assessment

An alleged Russian air raid injured five civilians using surface-to-surface missiles loaded with cluster bombs in Al Ghafar in Idlib province on September 8th, 2022. The Syrian Civil Defense (SCD) reported that 5 civilians were injured and that the strikes killed dozens of goats and sheep owned by a local shepherd and farmer. The strikes also caused substantial infrastructural damage according to Baladi news. There were no further reports of civilian harm.

Furthermore, the SCD pictured the surface-to-surface missiles used that were 9M79 Tochka that carried 9N24 cluster bombs which “don’t explode and turn into time bombs”. The attack took place in the late morning as four warplanes took off from the Russian Hmeimim base at 10:22 and first struck in Hafsarja before moving on to Al Ghafar, a small village in the Sahel al-Roj plain, west of Idlib. There were more than 10 consecutive air strikes. Additionally, the incident took place near an internally displaced persons camp in the area.

The incident was first reported on September 8, 2022 at 10:30 am by .

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Agriculture
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    5
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attacker
    Russian Military

Sources (13) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (5) [ collapse]

  • Baladi posted an image of the missile in Al Ghafar
  • @SyriaCivilDefe tweeted a photo of the missile which hit Al Ghafir area on September 8th 2022 (Image via Twitter)
  • Image via @rana_alassad / Twitter of location of alleged Russian strike in Al Ghafir
  • Russian warplanes allegedly hit Al Ghafir on September 8th 2022 (Image via @tommycats4 / Twitter)
  • Russian warplanes allegedly hit Al Ghafir on September 8th 2022 (Image via @HammamGhazzawi / Twitter)

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Agriculture
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    5
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Weak
    Single source claim, though sometimes featuring significant information.
  • Suspected attacker
    Russian Military

Sources (13) [ collapse]