Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Russian and Assad regime helicopters allegedly dropped what were reportedly exploding chloride barrels on a residential neighbourhood in Saraqeb in Idlib at 23.20 on Tuesday August 2nd. The Shaam News Network reported that this attack was a “revenge for the killing of a number of Russian officers after their helicopter crashed in the vicinity of Abu al Duhour yesterday [Aug 1st].”
According to Shaam and other sources, a woman, her unborn child and daughter were killed in the airstrike. Multiple sources including Shaam said that 10 other people were seriously injured due to suffering from suffocation.
According to a member of the Civil Defence in Idlib, the raid was “promptly at 23:20 [whereby they] threw a small cylinders loaded with gas smell of chlorine on residential neighbourhoods in the city of Saraqib. [This resulted in] gas suffocation and fatigue for 30 people, including 10 children and 18 women and two men.” He further went on to state that many had to be evacuated from the city.
France24 and Smart News put the number much higher, stating that around 33 people suffered from “asphyxia”, or suffocation, due to the nature of the airstrike and the supposed chloride which was dropped. Although at the time there was no proof that chloride was dropped, evidence includes patients suffering of shortness of breath, coughing fits and sweating. Activists also claimed to recognise the smell as one similar to a previous confirmed gas attack.
Smart News further reported that one of the Syrian civil defence stated that “12 cases [of suffocation] were children and 18 cases were women” and that they were transferred to field hospitals.
The Syrian Civil Defence reported the following day, according to Enabbaladi, that “the aviation targeted residential neighbourhoods in the city of Saraqib, with explosive devices, each containing five cylinders holding chlorine with different copper iron balls”.
BBC News added that “The helicopter dropped two Bermalin contain poisonous chlorine gas Tuesday night, in the city of Saraqib northwest Syria.”
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the city had been evacuated and the contents of the explosives investigated and determined. The Syrian Civil Defence in Idlib helped to carry out this evacuation.
According to Syria Direct, “Saraqeb, a suburb of Idlib city, had a population of 53,000 before the intense bombings began on August 1. Today, only 10,000 people remain”. These statistics came from Osama Bareesh, the director of the Saraqeb Civil Defence.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (3)
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the city of Saraqib (سراقب), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.859101, 36.797731. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (22) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (9) [ collapse]
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A child suffering due to the "Chloride" gas attack on Saraqeb, 2nd August 2016. (via, Ara News)A child suffering due to the "Chloride" gas attack on Saraqeb, 2nd August 2016. Via, Ara News. -
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Image of he exact moment the airstrike hit. (via, BBC)
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A damaged vehicle in the aftermath of the raid. (via, France24)
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A child suffering due to the "Chloride" gas attack on Saraqeb, 2nd August 2016. (via, Smart News) -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
A baby suffering due to the "Chloride" gas attack on Saraqeb, 2nd August 2016. (via, Enab Baladi) -
This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.
A baby suffering due to the "Chloride" gas attack on Saraqeb, 2nd August 2016. (via, Alghadasouri) -
The aftermath of the alleged raid. (via, SyrianPC)
Russian Military Assessment:
Original strike reports
Russia has not reported any strikes between August 1st – 10th 2016.