(Previous Incident Codes: R1532RS1672)

An airstrike, that struck the city of Jassem in Dara’a, reportedly killed up to nine civilians and wounded dozens more, including women and children, local media said. The incident was described by several media as a “massacre”. Sources were conflicted as to whether Russia or the Assad regime were to blame.

Sources reported between five to nine civilians casualties as a result of the strike. Most said that seven civilians were killed. Moreover, several sources reported that the strike had wounded “dozens”, including women and children. LCCSY, Syrian Press Center and Dara Martyr News identified a total of eight civilian male victims, hereof one confirmed adult.

A media activist told Umayya Press that “the air force targeted the center of the city with an air strike that killed seven civilians, including displaced people from the city of Ankle, and carried out several air raids on the outskirts of the city.”

The strike reportedly hit a residential area, several media said. RFS Media reported that: “The military aircraft of the regime forces carried out a new massacre in the countryside of Daraa after targeting the residential neighbourhoods of Jassim in the morning with an air raid on the homes of civilians and shops nearby, leaving a large number of martyrs and wounded among the civilians”. The strike was, therefore, said to have inflicted heavy damage on properties as well. Other sources said that the city’s market was hit.

The majority of the sources, including Step news agency, LCCSY and Smart News, pointed to “Russian warplanes”, while some others – the Syrian Network for Human Rights, Shaam News, Rfsmediaoffice News and Muheet News – attributed the strikes to the Syrian regime. A number of other reports didn’t identify the responsible party, referring only to “warplanes”.