(Previous Incident Code: R2642a)

One or two civilians, reportedly both children, were killed and several other non-combatants were left wounded following aerial shelling of al-Halba, Idlib, carried out by either Russia or the Syrian regime, local media reported.

While most sources reported one fatality, a few sources reported the death of two civilians, such as the Violations Documentation Center Syria (VDC), who said that the two victims were brothers and identified them as the sons of an Awad Ballan. The Facebook account Hibatu Allah identified one of the brothers by his first name. However, that source did not mention the death of the second brother.

Sources were conflicted in terms of culpability. Some attributed blame to the Syrian regime. For example, Fresh News reported that  “Al-Assad military aircraft carried out several air raids at noon today [Dec 31st]” , while the Violations Documentation Centre  apportioned blame to “the Syrian government and affiliated militias”.

Meanwhile, several sources, including Masar Press, Zaiton Mag and @AJArabic identified Russia as responsible.

The White Helmets added that a “fire broke out” as a result of a “huge raid” on the village.