Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS2209D

Incident date

May 1, 2017

Location

اوتايا, Otaya, Eastern Ghouta, Damascus, Syria

Geolocation

33.524241, 36.455908 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Several civilians were left wounded following air or artillery strikes  in Otaya, Eastern Ghouta, allegedly carried out by either Russia or the Syrian regime, local media reported.

@damv011 reported that there had been “a number of wounded” in the strike(s), while several sources said that the raid injured a civilian defence officer.

According to @ameraldmashqi,  “an artillery shell targeted the town of Otaya in the area of Al-Marj, causing a minor injury to a civilian defence officer while they [the civilian defence] was searching the area”

While one source, @damv011, attributed blame to the Syrian regime, Al Jazeera pointed to both Russia and the Syrian regime as the responsible. The remaining sources did not identify the culprit.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Otaya, Eastern Ghouta (اوتايا), for which the generic coordinates are: 33.524241, 36.455908. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (5) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • The moment the contested air raid hits Otaya, Eastern Ghouta, May 1st, 2017 (via Syrian civil defense center in Al Ghouta)

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

Russian Military

Russia has not reported any strikes between May 1st - 31st 2017.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (5) [ collapse]