Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Up to seven people from the same family including between two and five children and up to two died and more were wounded in an airstrike on Ma’ar Shmareen village, according to local media – though sources were conflicted as to whether this was the work of Russia or the Syrian regime.
The lowest death count was given as two by @spm_syria, who blamed the regime.
Halab Today attributed the event to Russia, reporting that seven people from one family including two children and a woman died. @RevolutionSyria also pointed to Russia.
But a number of other sources attributed the event to the Syrian regime.
According to Syria News Desk, “a man and his wife and five of their children were killed and two other children were injured, overnight, as a result of regime warplanes carrying out two raids with heavy machine guns the village of Maar Shmareen, south east of Maarat al Numan”.
@Hasan_Jneed tweeted images showing “the work of civil defence teams during the rescue operation of a strike which killed seven people from one family, including five children”.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights joined a number of reports in not identifying the culprit; it put the death toll at five from one family including two women.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (21) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (7) [ collapse]
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This little girl was the only survivor of the airstrike which struck her home and allegedly killed 7 members of her family. This is the aftermath of her being pulled from the rubble. (via RevolutionSyria)
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The civil defence work to pull bodies from the rubble following an alleged Russian and Syrian regime raid on Ma'ar Shmareen, Oct 20th (via Hasan_Jneed)
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The civil defence work to pull bodies from the rubble following an alleged Russian and Syrian regime raid on Ma'ar Shmareen, Oct 20th (via Hasan_Jneed)
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The civil defence work to pull bodies from the rubble following an alleged Russian and Syrian regime raid on Ma'ar Shmareen, Oct 20th (via Hasan_Jneed)
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Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Ma’ar Shmareen (معرشمارين), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.615999, 36.720922. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Russian Military Assessment:
Original strike reports
On 20th October 2016, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation reported on the decisions made aimed towards stabilising the situation in Aleppo.
""Today, strikes by the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Syrian Air Force are finished at 10:00 (MSK) in the area of Aleppo. Early termination of the airstrikes is essential for holding a “humanitarian pause” on October 20, 2016”, said General of the Army Sergei Shoigu. According to him, it will allow to guarantee security of civilians leaving the city through 6 humanitarian corridors and to prepare casualty and medical evacuation from the eastern part of Aleppo.
“We apply to the leadership of countries influencing on armed formations active in the eastern part of Aleppo with a proposal to convince their leaders to stop warfare and leave the city,” stated the Minister of Defence.
According to General of the Army Sergei Shoigu, by the start of the “humanitarian pause” the Syrian troops will have been withdrawn to the distance safe for insurgents to leave the city with weapons through two special corridors: one – along the Kastello road, second – in the area of Suk al-Hai market."