Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Between 12 and 20 civilians died and up to 21 more were wounded in an airstrike on a UN/Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy (reportedly consisting of up to 12 trucks) in Urma al Kubra, Aleppo, according to local media – though sources were conflicted as to whether Russia or the Assad regime were to blame. Amnesty condemned the attack as “a flagrant violation of international law”.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that “government helicopters and fixed-wing warplanes, believed to be Russian, took part in a concentrated attack that comprised multiple airstrikes on a center for the Red Crescent in eastern Urm Al Kubra town. The bombardment lasted for three hours.”
SN4HR went on to say that “government helicopters dropped no less than four barrel bombs while the fixed-wing Russian warplanes carried out nine airstrikes using missiles and heavy machine guns. The bombardment mostly targeted the Syrian Red Arab Crescent (SARC) center and destroyed a U.N. aid convoy of trucks that were supposed to deliver aid to warehouses belonging to the Red Crescent center. Additionally, the bombardment targeted also medical and civil defence teams who tried to rescue the wounded and injured relief workers.”
The relief trucks were from the Red Crescent organization and were staffed by volunteers. Multiple local and global media sources reported that the bombardment lasted roughly three hours, and only struck Red Crescent trucks and a Red Crescent supply center. LCCSY, for instance, stated that the warplanes “caused the burning of more than 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid, and the destruction of the center.”
Step News Agency, who put the death toll at 12, said that all of the victims were “employees and volunteers” of the Red Crescent.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights published a report which argued that the strike was purposefully targeted: “The frequency of the strikes during the three hours, meaning that more than one missile was used and more than one strike were carried out so the attack wasn’t indiscriminate or by accident. In fact, four barrel bombs were dropped and the area was targeted with several missiles. Also, heavy machine guns were used to keep medics and civil defence teams away.”
Additionally, there was a statement by Mr. Stephen O’Brien, United Nations Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, which said: “Notification of the convoy – which planned to reach some 78,000 people – had been provided to all parties to the conflict. So the Russian and Syrian regime were already aware of the place and the time at which the convoy was passing.”
The incident occured at approximately 7:30 pm local time.
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Urma al Kubra (أورم الكبرى), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.1475457, 36.9448239. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (49) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (43) [ collapse]
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Omar Barakat, head of the Syrian Red Crescent centre died in the contested airstrikes targeting the Red Crescent convoy in Urma al Kubra. Several sources publsihed the same photo of Omar Barakat (via LCCSY)
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Contested airstrikes targeted a Red Crescent convoy in Urma al Kubra (via SN4HR)
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Contested airstrikes targeted a Red Crescent convoy in Urma al Kubra (via Aleppo White Helmets)
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Contested airstrikes targeted a Red Crescent convoy in Urma al Kubra (via Aleppo White Helmets)
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Contested airstrikes targeted a Red Crescent convoy in Urma al Kubra (via Aleppo White Helmets)
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Omar Barakat, head of the Syrian Red Crescent center died in the contested airstrikes targeting the Red Crescent convoy in Urma al Kubra (via SNN)
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Photos reportedly showing burning trucks loaded with aid after it was bombed by Russian or Assad-waged airstrikes (via SNN)
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Photos reportedly showing burning trucks loaded with aid after it was bombed by Russian or Assad-waged airstrikes (via SNN)
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Destructed truck caused the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra (via White Helmets)
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The destruction caused by the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra(via White Helmets)
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Destruction of aid remedies caused by the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra(via White Helmets)
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Destruction of aid remedies caused by the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra(via White Helmets)
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Destruction of aid remedies caused by the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra(via White Helmets)
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The destruction of aid supplies caused by the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra (via White Helmets)
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A destructed truck caused by the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra (via White Helmets)
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A destruction truck caused by the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra (via White Helmets)
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The destruction of aid supplies caused by the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra (via White Helmets)
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The destruction of aid supplies caused by the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra (via White Helmets)
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The destruction of aid supplies caused by the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra (via White Helmets)
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The destruction caused by the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra (via White Helmets)
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The destruction of aid supplies caused by the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra (via White Helmets)
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Destruction caused by the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra (via White Helmets)
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The destruction of aid supplies caused by the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra (via White Helmets)
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The destruction caused by the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra (via White Helmets)
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The destruction of aid supplies caused by the contested raids targeting Urma al Kubra (via White Helmets)
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Approximate location of the contested strikes targeting Urma al Kubra (via SN4HR)
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Images of destroyed aid supplies caused by the contested strikes targeting Urma al Kubra (vi SN4HR)
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Images of destroyed aid supplies caused by the contested strikes targeting Urma al Kubra (vi SN4HR)
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Satellite images showing the destruction caused by the contested air raids (via al-Jazeera)
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Image of alleged victim of the contested strikes targeting Urma al Kubra, named Abdul Rahman Mohammed Manafikhi (via Thiqa News Agency)
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Image of alleged victim of the contested strikes targeting Urma al Kubra, named Abrahim Huzeina (via Thiqa News Agency)
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Red Crescent centre in the town of Urma al Kubra before the raids (via Syrian Reporter News)
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The Red Crescent center under intensive aerial shelling in Urma al Kubra (via masar_online)
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The Red Crescent center under intensive aerial shelling in Urma al Kubra (via masar_online)
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Approximate location of the where the targeting took place im Urma al Kubra (Qasioun News)
Russian Military Assessment:
Original strike reports
Russia has not reported any strikes between September 1st – 30th 2016.