Geolocation
Airwars assessment
As the aerial shelling of eastern Ghouta continued on February 21st, the town of Arbeen was struck by Russian and/or Assad-waged air raids, killing up to five civilians and wounding another three, local media reported.
On February 21st, al-Modon reported that “more than 50 air raids” were carried out in multiple towns in eastern Ghouta, including Arbeen, who reportedly was among the locations most intensely struck. Euphrates Post reported that the strikes in Arbeen hit residential neighbourhoods.
While some reports, including the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SN4HR) reported one fatality, Baladi News put the toll at five.
A family was reportedly among the fatalities as tweeted by Mohammed al-Ezzo who published a photo of a father mourning the death of his family.
It should be noted that the Violations Documentation Center Syria reported that a total of 18 civilians were killed in Arbeen “since yesterday”. This number should be seen in light of the shelling on February 20th where up to 18 civilians were reported killed (see R2849).
The number of wounded spanned from one to three, the highest reported by Step News Agency.
It should be noted that two separate strikes possibly took place; one during the night and one during the day. Videos published by Arbeen Media Center namely depict air raids in daylight and nighttime, both dated February 21st.
Finally, it remains unclear whether Russia carries the responsible alone or whether if it is shared with the Syrian regime. Baladi News and al-Modon point to the latter while others, including SN4HR, only blame Russian warplanes.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (11) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (5) [ collapse]
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Russian Military Assessment:
Original strike reports
Russia has not reported any strikes between February 1st - 28th 2018.