Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

R4586

Incident date

October 6, 2023

Location

أريحا, city of Ariha, south of Idlib, Idlib, Syria

Airwars assessment

On the evening of Friday, October 6th, 2023, residential neighborhoods of the city of Ariha located south of Idlib, Syria, were subject to an artillery bombardment with contested responsibility— reportedly perpetrated by the Syrian regime forces and/or the Russian military— that injured two civilian men, one of whom later died of his wounds.

One of civilians, Ismail Saleh Qaddad, reportedly suffered a fatal serious head injury. The other individual, Ahmed Mustafa Baroudi, sustained a foot injury. The Syrian Civil Defense reported the casualties both as civilians. Journalist Ahmed Bakour shared images of the severely injured Ismail with blood covering his eyes being treated by doctors and of Ahmed where his leg injury can be seen.

Tariq Jama wrote a Facebook tribute to Ismail Qaddad who died of his injuries on October 7th, 2023, mentioning that “He moved to the mercy of God Almighty” and sharing an image of the middle-aged bearded man in a kufiya.

The Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, was involved in rescue operations, including the evacuation of a civilian who was injured and stranded on the roof of a residential building. According to the SCD, the intense and continuous bombing in the Idlib countryside has significantly heightened fear among residents, leading to such dangerous situations.

While the strike was attributed to the Syrian regime forces by most sources, some tweets attributed it to Russian military.

The incident occured in the evening.

The victims were named as:

Ismail Qaddad اسماعيل قداد
Adult male killed
Ahmed Mustafa Baroudi أحمد مصطفى بارودي
Adult male injured

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • 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
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (19) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (5) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

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

    Source: Journalist Ahmed Bakour Home
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Journalist Ahmed Bakour Home
  • Source: Tariq Jama
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

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 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • 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
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (19) [ collapse]