Incident Code

RS1549

Location

مشمشان, Mashmashan, Idlib, Syria

Geolocation

35.859696, 36.367021
Accuracy: Village

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: December 15, 2024

(Previous Incident Code: R1416)

Ten named civilians, including five children and two women, were killed in addition to “dozens” of injuries which included a child, in alleged Russian or Assad regime airstrikes that struck a residential area of Mashmashan village in Jabal al-Wasatani.

The initial death toll was as high as eight civilians, however, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights pointed out that this was expected to rise due to many of those injured being in critical condition. Sources reported that the injured were transferred to Mercy Drakush hospital by the Civil Defence.

According to media Activist Ayman al-Hussein, the airstrikes struck civilian houses and caused the collapse of at least four buildings.

The majority of sources, including Syrian Network for Human Rights and Qasioun News, identified Russian warplanes as responsible for the airstrikes. However, in conflicting posts, the Local Coordination Committees in Syria identified Russian planes as being the culprits in one post and blamed Syrian regime planes in another, in addition to Al Jazeera identifying the regime as being responsible.

An image posted by the Syrian Network for Human Rights showed a severely injured young child who was covered in blood and had his head wrapped in gauze. The Syrian Civil Defence posted a video showing buildings that had been destroyed by the impact and the teams searching for any remaining survivors crushed in the rubble.

Victims

Family members (2)

Fuda Hassan Issa
35 years old named by SDU Syria killed
Hassah Haj Issa
9 months years old male named by SDU Syria killed

Invidivuals

Aya Mahal
10 years old named by SDU Syria killed
Nagham Mohammad Al-Asham
Age unknown named by SDU Syria killed
Fuda Nassif Husseinat
60 years old named by SDU Syria killed
Omar Mahmoud
3 years old male named by SDU Syria killed
Zohur Khiro Shahida
23 years old named by SDU Syria killed
Sham Al Hussein
2 years old named by SDU Syria killed
Zaid Mustafa Alloush
3 years old named by SDU Syria killed
Raghda AL Hussein
30 years old named by SDU Syria killed

Key Information

Country
Military Actor
Civilian Harm Reported
Yes
Civilian Harm Status
Contested
Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
Civilians reported killed
6–10
5 Children, 2 Women
Civilians reported injured
12–24

Geolocation Notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Mashmashan (مشمشان), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.859696, 36.367021. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Military Statements

Russian Military Assessment
Suspected belligerent
Russian Military
Russian Military position on incident
Not yet assessed
Russian Military Strike Report
Russia has not reported any specific strikes between November 1st – 30th 2016. On 6 January 2017, Russia, however, reported: “Since November 8, 2016, the aircraft carrier group of the Northern Fleet consisting of the heavy aircraft carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov, the heavy nuclear missile cruiser Pyotr Velikiy, the large ASW ship Severomorsk, as well as auxiliary vessels of the Black Sea Fleet, has been fulfilling counterterrorist missions on the territory of Syria”, adding that ”in the course of two months of their participation in the combat actions, naval aviation pilots have carried out 420 combat sorties, 117 of them were night ones”.
Syrian Regime Assessment
Suspected belligerent
Syrian Regime
Syrian Regime position on incident
Not yet assessed

Media From Sources (5)