Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS2633

Incident date

October 12, 2017

Location

الحجر الاسود, Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, Damascus, Syria

Geolocation

33.464114, 36.302391 Note: The accuracy of this location is to City level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Up to five civilians were killed and as many as 12, including women and children, were wounded, following airstrikes in al-Hajr al-Aswad neighbourhood south of Damascus, local sources reported. While most sources blamed the Assad regime there were also allegations against Russia.

Zaman al-Wasl’s correspondent said that the airstrikes killed a whole family, in addition to wounding a number of civilians and causing extensive destruction of property, buildings and shops.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said that there had been “at least five civilian victims”, while others reported  “several” civilian fatalities. Reportedly, the victims belonged to the same family.

Additionally, up to 12 civilians were reportedly left wounded, the highest number given by the Smart News Agency. The director of the Media Office of the Civil defence in Damascus, Adam Khatib, told Smart News that four children and five women were among these.

The neighbourhood, which was reportedly controlled by ISIS at the time, was hit by up to 16 airstrikes, local media said, who also added that it was the first time in more than a year that the area was subject to airstrikes.

For example, the activist Mohammed Kassem told 7al that “the regime’s forces suddenly stepped on the area that was in a truce-like situation (…) and that they carried out more than 12 air strikes without distinguishing between military points of ISIS or residential areas.”

The large majority of the reports attributed blame to the Syrian regime.
However, @BassamJaara identified Russia as the culprit while the Syrian Network for Human Rights said that both the Assad regime and Russia were to blame.

The incident occured in the morning.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2 – 5
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–12
  • 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 (13) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • Footage of the contested air raids striking in the al-Hajar al-Aswad neighborhood south of Damascus, October 13th, 2017 (via Qasioun News Agency)
  • Footage of the contested air raids striking in the al-Hajar al-Aswad neighborhood south of Damascus, October 13th, 2017 (via Orient News)

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 October 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
    2 – 5
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–12
  • 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 (13) [ collapse]