Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS1291

Incident date

September 20, 2016

Location

خان طومان, Khan Touman, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.1177702, 37.0513916 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Between 14 and 18 civilians, mostly emergency doctors and nurses, were killed in an attack on a medical centre in Khan Tuman, Aleppo, local sources reported. Most reports alleged Russian warplanes were responsible for the attack, which specifically targeted the centre. However, the Syrian Network for Human Rights also pointed to the regime in some posts.

According to Sky News Arabia, “the Russian air force raided the town of Khan Touman, around two hours after midnight, where a medical point of belonging to the union of relief organizations and medical care [UOSSM] was targeted, killing 14 people, including medical personnel, doctors, medics and ambulance drivers.”

The Syrian Network for Human Rights stated that fixed-wing warplanes “we believe are Russian” executed the strike – though there was some confused reporting, for in several other posts SN4HR blamed “regime shelling”.

Shaam News Network reported that “ambulance crews rushed to the target location to rescue the injured and take them to medical hospitals, but they came under direct bombardment during the performance of their tasks.”

Halab News Network (HNN) identified nine civilian fatalities – all reportedly rescue workers – in its list of martyrs.
In addition, HNN said eight other rescue workers were killed but were unable to identify them. Five of them were reportedly members of the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM).

Syria News Desk added that over a dozen civilians were wounded, some left in a  critical condition. Some had reportedly been in the ambulances already when the medical centre was hit.

Finally, @baladinetwork tweeted four photographs of damage to the medical centre and ambulances.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (2)

Abu Tarek al Homsi
Adult male killed
Abu al Teeb al Homsi
Adult male killed

The victims were named as:

Abu Abdallah Sabouniye
Adult male killed
Abu Mahmoud
Adult male killed
Abu Hasan Tubbiye
Adult male killed
Abu al Mu’tassem Othman
Adult male killed
Abu Hanifa
Adult male killed
Abu Ibrahim
Adult killed
Mohammad Ahmad al Yusuf
Adult male killed
Abd al Rahman Mnafihi
Adult male killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Khan Touman (خان طومان), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.1177702, 37.0513916. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    14 – 18
  • (10 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    12–24
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (39) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • The contested strikes reportedly destroyed a medical center in Khan Touma, Aleppo, including an ambulance (via Baladi Network)

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

Russian Military

Russia has not reported any strikes between September 1st – 30th 2016.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    14 – 18
  • (10 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    12–24
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (39) [ collapse]