At least one civilian, a young girl, was killed and between six and eight others, including three children and two women, were injured by alleged Syrian regime and/or Russian and/or Iranian artillery strikes on the al-Shamali neighborhood in the city of Sarmin on October 4th, 2023.

The @SyriaCivilDefe reported that a girl was killed and six other civilians (two female children, a female infant, two women, and a man) were injured by missile strikes against civilian homes, the Grand Mosque, and the fence of a school playground, adding that their volunteers transported the injured to hospitals and inspected the affected area. According to @mzmgr941, the bombing occurred while the children were leaving school. Journalist @Jamil_Alhasaan reported that in addition to the death of a girl, eight others were injured while Fresh News put the injury toll at seven.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights identified the girl killed as Layla Ahmad al-Masri. In a video posted by @SyriaCivilDefe, a young girl can be heard saying “Uncle, I want my sister… but I want my sister… help her for my sister” as she is looking for her sister Layla who was killed. A video posted by @Gurbtwatan shows Layla’s father mourning the loss of his daughter and crying.

An image posted by El Mohrar provided the names of those killed and injured written on a Syrian American Medical Society paper: Faten Asban, 40 years, old injury in her foot; Ibrahim Wazaz, 20 years old, injury in his foot; Limar Abo Saloura, infant, many bruises; Sham Abo Saloura, 12 years old, injury in her foot; Amina Taher Shaar, 30 years old, injury in her back; Sundus Sarmini, 12 years old, injury in her back.

Journalist @MohamadDaba9966 with Sama TV reported that the shelling occurred “after reconnaissance aircraft monitored crowds of militants moving with their vehicles”. However, no militants were killed in the strike.

While the majority of sources attributed the shelling to the Syrian regime, @alking14399969 blamed Russian forces while @in_sham_hhashm referred to the incident as the “Russian-Iranian bombing”.