Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Up to twenty people were killed and several left wounded as Assad and/or Russian warplanes struck Saqba, eastern Ghouta, Damascus, local media reported.
As the heavy shelling of eastern Ghouta continued on its fifth day, sources reported about renewed shelling of Saqba on February 22nd.
While no reports provided exact figures of the death toll in Saqba, all agreed that the strikes had resulted in civilian fatalities, for example, LCCSY and Sky News reported about “the fall of martyrs”.
However, the number of killed possibly reached 20 as reported by Enab Baladi, Sky News and Sabah News. The latter reported how “the number of victims in the city of Saqba alone [rose] to 24 martyrs”. However, as the sources provided general reporting from the past days of shelling in Saqba, it was unclear whether the figures, in fact, covered several days of strikes.
The number of wounded was likewise unclear. While the Civil Defence merely referred to “wounded”, Smart News Agency described that “many” were left injured. According to Sky News’ general reporting from the past days in Saqba, the strikes wounded “dozens.”
Sources were not clear in terms of culpability, as blame was appointed to either the Syrian regime, Russia, or both across the reports. Most reports, including Smart News Agency and LCCSY, however, pointed solely to Russian culpability.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Saqba (سقبا), for which the generic coordinates are: 33.519286, 36.382427. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (8) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (5) [ collapse]
-
The aftermath of the contested strikes in Saqba, Damascus, February 22nd, 2018 (via Damas Press)
-
The aftermath of the contested strikes in Saqba, Damascus, February 22nd, 2018 (via Damas Press)
-
The aftermath of the contested strikes in Saqba, Damascus, February 22nd, 2018 (via Damas Press)
-
Russian Military Assessment:
Original strike reports
Russia has not reported any strikes between February 1st - 28th 2018.