(Previous Incident Codes: R1177RS1299)

Major strikes in Bustan al Qasr, Aleppo, on September 22nd which killed between five and 13 civilians, and wounded dozens more, were attributed to both regime forces and Russia aircraft by local media. Local sources identified five civilian victims, including two children.

Many reports stated that barrel bombs and phosphorus were used in the attack, leading to large fires.

According to a Syria News Desk post on Facebook, “four civilians were killed and more than a dozen others injured, some of them seriously, at dawn today [Sept 22nd], a result of Russian warplanes using mostly rockets loaded with phosphorous bombs on the neighbourhood of Bustan al Qasr.

Majid Alragi, one of the residents of the neighbourhood, told Syria News desk, “The wounded were taken to a field hospital in the region,” pointing out that civil defence teams extinguished a portion of the blaze, which burned some residential buildings, shops and cars, after working more than five hours while fire gutted three buildings.

Rescue workers attempting to put out the fire were reportedly limited by snipers stationed in the vicinity.

Other sources corroborated this account but claimed a higher number of civilian casualties. @eldorar1, @Daretezzamedia, and @24Aleppo tweeted that four civilians were killed, but reports from Orient News, Smart News, Dostor, and Youm7 suggested the number of dead ranged from 10 to 13.

DW News stated that among the dead were at least three children and three women.

Most sources alleged that the bombs and phosphorus were used in between 12 and 14 separate drops on the same location.

Al Jazeera and Orient News pointed to “a squadron of Russian aircraft”, while other sources referred to “Assad’s planes.”