Geolocation
Airwars assessment
An air raid shelter in the village of Al Ghantu was reportedly hit in a Russian airstrike, killing up to 48 people from one extended family. Among the dead were at least 23 children and nine women.
A local cameraman captured the moment the missile from an apparent Russian Air Force Su-24 hit (see below) despite the Kremlin making no reference to airstrikes in the governorate that day. The Arab East Centre noted: “According to sources in the field who saw the shelling, the first missile destroyed the two-storey building, while the second destroyed the shelter beneath the building.”
Early reports placed the number of dead at 17. However Al Jazeera later said up to 48 people had died, all from one extended family, the Al Assafs (or Al Steifs).
A reported survivor described the scene, again to Al Jazeera: “Some 45 people died. Of course they were all women, children and girls. The oldest was a 70 year old woman and the youngest was a month old. There were also pregnant women.”
An Amnesty International investigation later concluded: “There are no indications of any military presence. A weapons expert who analysed the images of the aftermath of the strike told Amnesty International that the nature of the destruction indicated possible use of fuel-air explosives or “vacuum bombs”, which leave a wide destructive “footprint” and can kill humans without causing significant visible injuries. Fuel-air explosives are particularly prone to indiscriminate effects when used in the vicinity of civilians.”
Human Rights Watch concluded that the attack “apparently violated the laws of war.“
Some 45 of the dead have been named by VDC.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
- Hutheifah Abdulwakeel Ahmad Steif Child male killed
- Fatemah Abdulwakeel Ahmad Steif Child killed
- Mohammad Abdulwakeel Ahmad Steif Child male killed
- Ahmad Abdulwakeel Ahmad Steif Child male killed
- Najwa Rakan Assaf Adult female killed
- Abdulwakeel Ahmad Steif Adult male killed
- Aya Abdulmouti Assaf Child female killed
- Issam Abdulmouti Assaf Adult male killed
- Abdullah Abdulmouti Assaf Child male killed
- Abbas Abdulmouti Assaf Child male killed
- Wife of Abdulmouti Assaf Adult female killed
- Abdulmouti Assaf Adult male killed
- Turkeih Hassan Assaf Adult female killed
- Issam Abbas Assaf Adult male killed
- Wife of Issam Abbas Assaf Adult female killed
- Alaa Issam Assaf Child male killed
- Majed Issam Assaf Child male killed
- Feras Issam Assaf Child male killed
- Shadi Farhan Assaf Adult male killed
- Farhan Shadi Assaf Child male killed
- Fawzeih Shadi Assaf Child female killed
- Hiba Shadi Assaf Child female killed
- Fidi Shadi Assaf Child female killed
- Layla Shadi Assaf Child female killed
- Farhan Hutheifah Assaf Child male killed
- Hutheifah Rakan Assaf Adult male killed
- Ayshah Abdulsattar Assaf Child female killed
- Abdulsater Abbas Assaf Age unknown male killed
- Khadeijeh Yehya Othman Adult female killed
- Mohammad Abdulsattar Assaf Adult male killed
- Abdulqader Salem al-Hajwani Adult male killed
- Marwan Assaf Adult male killed
- Mayadah Khuder Kurdeihg Adult female killed
- Ataa Marwan Assaf Child female killed
- Esraa Marwan Assaf Child female killed
- Mohammad Marwan Assaf Child male killed
- Rakan Assaf Adult male killed
- Saja Rakan Assaf Adult female killed
- Amoun Yaseen Steif Adult female killed
- Kazem Rakan Assaf Adult male killed
- Wife of Kazem Rakan Assaf Adult female killed
- Daughter of Kazem Rakan Assaf 1 Child female killed
- Daughter of Kazem Rakan Assaf 2 Child female killed
- Fatemah Abdulwakeel Ahmad Steif Child female killed
Summary
Sources (18) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (14) [ collapse]
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Russian Military Assessment:
Original strike reports
Russia made no reference to strikes in Homs governorate for October 15th-16th 2015: “In the course of the last 24 hours, the Russian aviation group in Syria has continued conducting pinpoint airstrikes against ISIS facilities on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic. The Russian aircraft performed 33 combat sorties from Hmeymim airbase engaging 32 ISIS infrastructural facilities in the Idlib, Hama, Damascus, Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor provinces.“