Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS2970

Incident date

February 3, 2018

Location

خان السبل, Khan al-Subul, Idlib, Syria

Geolocation

35.753927, 36.770468 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

In this incident, described as a “massacre”, alleged Russian cluster bombs killed between seven and ten civilians, including up to five children and one woman, and wounded up to dozens, as the village of Khan al-Subul, Idlib, was struck, local media reported.

Step News Agency reported how “the first massacre took place in the town of Khan al-Subul, killing more than 10 civilians, most of them women and children, in addition to tens of wounded (as a preliminary result), after targeting more than 4 cluster rockets.”

Other sources, such as the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SN4HR) said that the strike caused “at least seven civilians, including five children and a woman”. The Syrian Civil Defense, who put the death toll at nine, said that among these were three children.

The number of wounded spanned from “several” to “dozens”, the latter reported by Hadi Abdullah, who added that most of the wounded were children and women.

The majority of the known sources reported the cluster bombs were fired from four ballistic missiles. Orient news, for example, reported how “Russia committed a massacre of civilians in the town of Khan al-Sabil in rural Idlib during the targeting of the town with four long-range ballistic missiles.”

SN4HR published a photo of one of the long-range missiles that reportedly had been used.

All known sources pointed unanimously to Russia as the culprit.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the town of Khan al-Subul (خان السبل), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.753927, 36.770468. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    7 – 10
  • (3–5 children1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–24
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military

Sources (13) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]

  • The Civil Defense trying to treat some of the dozens of victims following the alleged Russian shelling of Khan al-Subul, Idlib, February 3rd, 2018 (via Syria Civil Defense)
  • Newscast describing the strike in Khan al-Subul on February 3rd, 2018 (via Radio Kul)
  • Witnesses on the ground describing the alleged Russian shelling in Khan al-Subul on February 3rd, 2018, that reportedly killed more than ten civilians (via Orient News)
  • The remnants of a long range missile allegedly fired by Russia on Khan al-Sulub, Idlib, February 3rd, 2018 (via Syrian Network for Human Rights)

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 February 1st - 28th 2018.

Summary

  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    7 – 10
  • (3–5 children1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–24
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military

Sources (13) [ collapse]