Airwars assessment
During the morning of Saturday, December 2nd, 2023, an artillery shelling reportedly perpetrated by the Syrian regime forces and/or Russian military and/or Iranian military hit the al-Shuhada elementary school in the village of Afes, eastern countryside of Idlib, Syria. The attack initially resulted in four injuries – three children and a teacher. However, one boy died of his injuries on January 5th, 2024, while the female teacher succumbed to her injuries on December 21, 2023.
The victims were attended to by the Syrian Civil Defense (also known as the “White Helmets”) who transported them to the hospital and shared images online at 11:50 AM. Among the victims was Ibrahim Fareed Al Mustafa, a young boy with short brown hair, brown eyes, thin lips, and a long nose, who was wearing a yellow shirt and black pants. Over a month later, he was declared dead from his injuries on January 5th, 2024.
Another child, a schoolmate of Ibrahim’s, sustained a small injury on his forehead. This boy was pictured wearing a red zip-up hoodie and black pants during the incident and received medical treatment.
Initial reports from the White Helmets misidentified the slightly injured child as Ibrahim Fareed Al Mustafa. However, further confirmation from Facebook accounts belonging to Marwan Turki and Ahmad Al Muhammad disclosed that Ibrahim was the deceased child. Ahmad Al Muhammad mentioned that Ibrahim had died in a hospital in Turkey.
Their teacher, Rania Muhaimid, was severely injured and received medical treatment. Unfortunately, she succumbed to her injuries and died on December 21st, 2023. No additional information regarding the third injured child was found among sources.
Photos from the scene shared by the Syrian Civil Defense showed an empty classroom with blood on the floor near the teacher’s desk and a student’s desk at the bottom of the room. Moreover, the schoolyard displayed remnants of the impact. Videos from the Syrian Civil Defense showed them attending to the scene, transporting victims to civilian cars and then to an ambulance for first aid before heading to the hospital.
The class was full, and the children were visibly scared as the White Helmets evacuated the victims. The rest of the class was also evacuated. According to Syrian Civil Defense members, “Out of extreme fear, they forgot their pens and bags in their classrooms to save their lives from the death that followed them even at their desks.”
Twitter/X user @mzmgr941 posted a video showing the immediate aftermath of the strike where small children were screaming in panic, and a teacher was wiping blood from the faces of two pupils.
Most sources identified the Syrian regime forces or Russian military as responsible for the attack. However, Twitter/X user @alkhattabi1988 claimed that the Iranian military was also involved, though this information has not been corroborated by other sources.
The incident occured in the morning.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (24) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (23) [ collapse]
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Source: @SyriaCivilDefe -
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Source: @SyriaCivilDefe -
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Source: @SyriaCivilDefe -
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Source: @SyriaCivilDefe -
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Source: @SyriaCivilDefe -
Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
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Source: @SyriaCivilDefe -
Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
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Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
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Source: @My News Media twee
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Source: @My News Media twee
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Source: @My News Media twee
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Source: Marwan Turki
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