On Thursday October 5th 2023, artillery strikes allegedly perpetrated by the Syrian regime and/or Russian military on the city of Sarmin injured between 10 and 15 civilians, including 3 children and 2 women.

Most sources, including Syrian Civil Defence (SCD), reported that 10 civilians, including three children and two women, were injured and shared photos and videos of children receiving treatment within ambulances run by their teams. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that 15 civilians were injured in this incident, which was a part of dozens of shelling, artillery and missile incidents across the Idlib countryside. None of the injured victims have currently been named.

SCD also shared that the artillery damaged Sarmin’s residential neighbourhood infrastructure and two schools, one which was named as Hussein al Hajj Abboud. Syria TV posted that the strikes had caused civilians to be displaced from Sarmin as a result of the continuous shelling.

SOHR, alongside numerous local news sources such as Idlib Media Center, attributed the attack to the Syrian regime. The Coordination of the Syrian Revolution also suspected the involvement of the Russian military, however there have been no official statements taking responsibility from either suspected belligerent.