Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

R4567

Incident date

October 5, 2023

Location

المدخل الشرقي لإدلب ومحطة الكهرباء, the eastern entrance of Idlib and the power station, Idlib, Syria

Airwars assessment

On the afternoon of Thursday October 5th 2023, an artillery shelling allegedly perpetrated by Syrian regime forces and/or the Russian military struck Eastern Idlib, including a large electric power station, killing between one and two civilians and injuring three civilians, one of whom was a child.

The majority of sources, such as Syria Civil Defence (SCD), indicated that two civilians were killed whilst three civilians, a young girl and two men, were injured. At present, there has been no identification of the victims apart from Ahmed Haj Ali, who was named as one of the injured by Aawsat News, which reported that a shell fell next to his motorcycle, which caused him to fall and then take refuge in a store before going to the hospital. He witnessed the killing of a man without realising that he was injured too: “We carried the young man, we came to the governorate hospital, and it turned out that I was suffering from a fracture and wounds.”

Striking the power station resulted in a fire and a major power outage across Idlib. SCD teams responded to the strikes by recovering 2 bodies and extinguishing the fire that erupted in the power station. They shared videos and photos on Twitter/X of the injured and deceased, as well as their efforts to contain the fire. Numerous news sources such as Almohrarmedia and Facebook page News of Idlib posted photos capturing the devastating smoke clouds and infrastructure damage caused by the strikes. According to Aawsat News, mosques in the area sounded warnings to civilians not to go out in the streets after the bombing began in Idlib.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), alongside the majority of sources, reported that the strikes were attributed to the Syrian regime. Twitter/X account Marsad Abu Shams also suspected Russian militias, however there have been no official statements taking responsibility from either suspected belligerent.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Ahmed Haj Ali أحمد حاج علي
Age unknown male injured

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Power Station
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 2
  • Civilians reported injured
    3
  • 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 belligerents
    Syrian Regime, Russian Military

Sources (27) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (28) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
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    Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @rewsakurda
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @alking14399969
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    Source: @creativenewssy
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @Rian_almasri
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Aawsat news
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    Source: Almohrarmedia news
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    Source: Akbar idlib
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    Source: Akbar idlib
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    Source: Idalb
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    Source: Revolution coordination
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    Source: Idlib TV
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Shadi Al Hassan
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Shadi Al Hassan
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Shadi Al Hassan
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Shadi Al Hassan
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Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Russian Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Power Station
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 2
  • Civilians reported injured
    3
  • 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 belligerents
    Syrian Regime, Russian Military

Sources (27) [ collapse]