Airwars assessment
Shortly before 4:40 PM on Sunday, September 15, 2024, a child named Mohammad Somar Haj Lattouf and a young man named Abdulaziz Jamal Abboud were injured as a result of artillery shelling with contested responsibility allegedly perpetrated by Syrian regime forces and/or Iraniian military and/or Russian military in the western neighbourhood of the city of Sarmin, east of Idlib, Syria. The attack struck residential houses in the western part of the city and on the Hussein Haj Aboud Primary School and resulted in the damage of the school classrooms and some school furniture.
Twitter/X user “Editor moment by moment” (@Almohrar1) reported the incident and two injuries at 4:41 PM while the Syrian Civil Defence (also known as “White Helmets”) reported the incident at its Twitter/X account at 4:44 PM, marking the information as “urgent” and reporting the injury of a child and a young man as the result of regime forces’ shelling.
Pictures shared on Facebook by several users, including Alaa Al-Diab, social media agency “Sarmin Today” and Free Idlib News showed a child, Mohammad Haj Lattouf, with what appears to be an extensive injury on his right foot being treated and blood spilled around it. They also showed a young man, Abdulaziz Abboud, being treated for an injury on his right foot.
Journalist Mohammed Abu Halaqa filmed a video report from the damaged school, saying the following: “I am now in the city of Sarmin, specifically in one of the schools in Sarmin. This school was bombed a little while ago by the forces of the regime in the border area of the city. Just a reminder that this school will be opening in next few days, and there will be students in this school.” He added that he flew with his colleagues from Istanbul to Idlib to cover the book fair, and they were surprised that two missiles fell in Sarmin and injured two civilians.
The journalist continued: “Shells of these missles fell at the school besides me. I remind you that this school will be reopened in few days.” Then he showed traces of blood on the pavement and let a witness speak. A young man told the journalist that the bombing was about a quarter hour ago.
A post by Facebook user Hadi Kharrat contained images taken by Ibad Badra, including an image of the school classrooms damaged as a result of the artillery shelling. Images showed the fragments of the damaged wall and debris on the floor.
The Facebook account of the Syrian Network for Human Rights shared an additional image demonstrating the damage inflicted on the school. It showed an affected classroom with desks and floors covered with dust and debris while a Syrian Civil Defense volunteer was standing in front of the desks.
Facebook user Rojava Gündemi and other social media users widely circulated the image showing smoke rising on the horizon over residential houses.
Most of the sources named the Syrian regime militias as perpetrators of the attack, with Twitter/X user @Almohrar1 and Facebook users Saroti Hamwi and Alaa Al-Diab also naming the Russian and Iranian military as responsible belligerents.
The incident occured at approximately 4:40 pm local time.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (19) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (11) [ collapse]
-
Source: Alaa
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Alaa -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Alaa -
Source: Razovez
-
Source: Hadi
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Hadi -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
Source: Hadi -
Source: Hadi
-
Source: Shabka
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
-
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.