Geolocation
Airwars assessment
A woman was killed and more than 25 civilians were injured in air and artillery strikes which struck the residential neighbourhood of Harasta. Sources blamed both the Syrian regime and Russia for the raids, with some sources also reporting that there had been fighting on the ground between factions.
One source mentioned that there were “dozens of civilian casualties” but did not specify if these were dead or wounded.
Another source stated that ten civilians were injured missiles – not attributing blame.
Allegedly, as many as 47 members of the Al Nusra front were killed in these raids, many of them the leaders of vehicle management.
According to Alsourya News the “Russian air force intensified its strikes on residential neighborhoods targeting the towns of Hamuriya and the director and the Arabs and Harsta and Masara several raids, causing extensive destruction and a number of victims.”
AMC tweeted that regime forces struck the vicinity with “land-to-land” missiles. There were allegedly as many as 20 raids, with 60 missile attacks and 300 shells fired onto the vicinity.
Souryiati News reported that “Some 25,000 people live under the ground in Harasta because of the bombing campaign targeting the city against the backdrop of clashes”. The head of the council in Harasta, Hossam Beruti, told Souryiati News that “the situation of the population is very bad because of the intensification of shelling, and people can not secure their daily lives.” He described that the situation of the population in the area as “miserable” because of the overcrowding of shelters and the difficulty of movement in the neighborhoods of the city. He added that the local council was unable to provide shelters today with drinking water because of the high frequency of bombing since the morning. They confirmed that one woman was killed and dozens of others were injured.
Souryante Press reported on the “Deterioration of the humanitarian situation” in Harasta. He describes how heavy shelling has over a period of time caused many civilian deaths and wounded. Families are unable to leave their basements for security needs. One man described the city of Harasta to be “devastated.”
“Several institutions have provided emergency relief to the inhabitants of Harasta, Irbid and Balda Madira. However, the head of Harasta province stressed that “the needs are much greater than what has been provided.” Several activists also launched several donation campaigns for the three areas.”
The incident occured in the morning.
Summary
Sources (24) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]
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The aftermath of an air and artillery strike on Harasta, 6th January 2018. (via Harsta Memories)