Geolocation
Airwars assessment
On December 5, 2016, at least 16 civilians were killed and between 15 and 24 were wounded in an aerial bombardment which struck Idlib city. It is unclear who was to blame, with most sources attributing blame to Russia, and some sources blaming the Syrian regime.
Smart News reported that according to two activists, the bombing of the warplanes struck “Al-Arbaeen Street and al-Madinah roundabout”.
According to sources, as many as seven children, one man and up to three women were killed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that four of the children were from the same family, and two of the children were from another family. Additionally, it was reported that the death toll was expected to rise due to the severity of the injuries.
LCCSY and Edlib Media Center identified the names of X victims who had been killed in the incident, many from the Ramadan and Hassino families. Four girls from the same family Suhaila Ramadan, Hasna Ramadan, 11-year-old Aya Ramadan and Nadia Ramadan, whose age is unknown, were killed in the incident. LCCSY also reported the death of an unidentified male child from the Ramadan family.
A girl and boy from the same family, 3-year-old Sham Fahed Hasseino and 4-year-old Omar Fahed Hasseino were also identified as killed alongside another female family member called Shaima Hasseino.
Wafaa Hassan Mohammed Al-Hassan, whose age is unknown, was killed alongside 38-year-old Hassan Mohammed Hassan. A 24-year-old woman named Shadia Al-Omar was also identified as killed in this incident.
3-year-old Mohammed Himsi was reportedly killed alongside his relative 7-year-old Aya Ramadan Al-Himsi.
SN4HR shared an image on their Facebook page of a child injured in the incident.
Sources reported that many civilians were trapped under the rubble due to the extensive material damage.
One source reported that missiles were used in the raid. There were as many as 18 raids on the city.
The incident occured during the day.
The victims were named as:
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the city of Idlib city (ادلب المدينة), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.9266201, 36.6180588. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (19) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (7) [ collapse]
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An injured child due to an alleged Russian and Syrian regime raid on Idlib city, 5th December 2016. (via SN4HR)
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A body trapped under the rubble due to an alleged Russian and Syrian regime raid on Idlib city, 5th December 2016. (via Idlib Media Centre)
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The aftermath of alleged Russian and Syrian regime raid on Idlib city, 5th December 2016. (via syriahro)
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The aftermath of alleged Russian and Syrian regime raid on Idlib city, 5th December 2016. (via syriahro)
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The aftermath of alleged Russian and Syrian regime raid on Idlib city, 5th December 2016. (via syriahro)
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The aftermath of alleged Russian and Syrian regime raid on Idlib city, 5th December 2016. (via syriahro)
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The aftermath of alleged Russian and Syrian regime raid on Idlib city, 5th December 2016. (via syriahro)
Russian Military Assessment:
Original strike reports
Russia has not reported any specific strikes between December 1st – 31st 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.”