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.