Airwars assessment
On Saturday, October 7th 2023, one civilian was killed and ten civilians, including two children (one boy) with serious injuries, were wounded by an alleged artillery attack by the Russian military and/or Syrian regime and/or Iranian forces. Reportedly, Mustafa Wadah Ghandoura was killed; Anwar Eido Al Deek, Abdulqader, Samer Ahmed and Mohammed Imad Qar’iya were among the injured. The alleged artillery attack damaged civilian homes in the city of Ariha, south of Idlib, including two fires in civilian homes.
Multiple sources reported on the event. Notably, Syrian Civil Defense reported civilian harm tolls throughout the day and ultimately concluded: “A civilian was killed and 10 civilians were injured, including two children, as a result of artillery shelling by regime forces targeting the city of Ariha, south of Idlib, which was targeted by regime forces several times during the day.” Other sources only reported on civilian casualties without providing a toll.
In an image posted by @SyriaCivilDefe, a mother is seen with her injured son: “In the presence of her injured son and her dearest son, “Muhammad,” she gently leans toward him, kisses his foot, and begs him to recover. Her face frowns with worry and fear, and she hopes that the danger will go away from him, with her eyes full of prayers and hope.”
In another video posted by @SyriaCivilDefe, a father is saying goodbye to his son who was killed as his body is being placed in a black bag while others try to comfort him in his sorrow.
Mahmoud Al-Othman, a volunteer in the Syrian Civil Defense spoke about trying to comfort civilians during the bombardment of Ariha: “Talin, a two-year-old girl, was crying unnaturally with her siblings, heartbroken. We tried to reduce the fear when we evacuated them from the place, but the amount of terror they experienced during the moments of bombing and hearing the sound of the shells was enough to erase the safety and smiles from their faces and replace fear and terror in their hearts.”
Many of the sources documented the fires that resulted from the shelling of Ariha, with at least one source describing “Houses are burning and civilians are trapped.”
Sources were conflicted as to whether the Syrian regime or Russian forces or Iranian forces were responsible, with the majority of sources blaming the Syrian regime. A post from Tariq Al-Dimashqi accused Russian forces of using “napalm and phosphorus bombs” against Ariha while other sources mentioned rocket launchers and missiles.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (30) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (26) [ collapse]
-
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 -
Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
-
Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
-
Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
-
Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
-
Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
-
Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
-
Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
-
Source: @idleb_online
-
Source: @Ivarmm tweeet
-
Source: @Ivarmm tweeet
-
Source: @mzmgr941
-
Source: Editor moment by moment
-
Source: News of the village of Nahlia and its environs
-
Source: Idlib News Network/Idlib
-
Source: Ariha, the bride of the north
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.