Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Fifteen named civilians were among those killed in multiple airstrikes on Idlib, local media reported. Sources were conflicted as to whether Russia or the Assad regime were responsible – though the event was referred to as a “horrific massacre” in several reports. Dozens more civilians were said to have been wounded.
A popular market, “the ball rotor area of the city” and the area near the National Hospital were reportedly struck.
Death counts varied, from 15 (Aa) to 27 civilians (Mada). These sources blamed Russia.
However, Step and Syria News Desk attributed the event to the regime. According to Syria News Desk, “twenty-three civilians died and more than 30 others were wounded – many seriously – in regime military action. There were three raids with rockets and cluster bombs, striking residential buildings near the hospital clinics and other areas”.
Syria Press Center added that many civilian homes were destroyed.
A number of sources didn’t identify the culprit. The highest death toll was given by Zaitonmag, at 28.
Hi Idlib named 12 civilian fatalities, ‘Plus five unknown martyrs’
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Family members (3)
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (20) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (14) [ collapse]
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Zakaria Bhro, killed in an alleged Russian and Syrian Regime raid. (via, Hi Idlib)
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Muhammad Wajih Nassan, killed in an alleged Russian and Syrian Regime raid. (via, Hi Idlib)
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Salim Naas, killed in an alleged Russian and Syrian Regime raid. (via, Hi Idlib)
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Damage caused to local shops. (via, Baladi)
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The aftermath of the alleged raid. (via, SyrianPC)
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The White Helmets carry an injured child to an ambulance. (via, Alkhabar_Agency) -
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The White Helmets carry an injured child to an ambulance. (via, Alkhabar_Agency) -
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The rescue of wounded civilians. (via, shababRevolution) -
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A civilian casualty is dragged from the rubble. (via, shababRevolution) -
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An injured civilian is dragged from the rubble following an alleged raid on Idlib. (via, JisirTV) -
The aftermath of the alleged raid. (via, Mada News)
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the globe roundabout, the area near the National Hospital and the vegetable market being struck. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates of the roundabout are 35.93130, 36.630222.
Russian Military Assessment:
Original strike reports
On August 17th 2016, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation reported that, "Russian bombers Su-34 took off from Hamedan airbase (Islamic Republic of Iran) with full fragmentation bomb charge and made an airstrike on ISIS terrorist facilities in the Deir ez-Zor province. As a result, 2 command centres and large ISIS field training camps near the Deir ez-Zor city were destroyed, over 150 militants (with foreign mercenaries among them) were eliminated."