Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS3071

Incident date

February 23, 2018

Location

مديرا, Madera, Damascus, Syria

Geolocation

33.544613, 36.3861 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

At least one – possibly a child – and as many as five civilians were killed as Madera, Damascus, was subject to airstrikes, carried out by Russia and/or the Assad regime, as reported by local media.

As a part of the intense shelling of eastern Ghouta, Madera was also struck by warplanes, local media reported. For example, Diyaruna News reported that a medical facility in the town was destroyed.

The death toll spanned from one to five, the highest reported by Baladi News.

Among the sources who reported one fatality was A’laa Shreke, who tweeted that a young boy was killed in Madera. However, the tweet was uploaded on February 22nd, why the exact timing of the strikes is unclear, but as of now, will be registered as occurring at some point between February 22nd and 23rd.

Also, it was unclear whether Russia was to blame, as reported by Baladi News, or whether the Assad regime was involved as well, as suggested by LCCSY, pointing to both Assad and Russian culpability.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Child male killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Madera (مديرا), for which the generic coordinates are: 33.544613, 36.3861. 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
    1 – 5
  • (0–1 children)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (7) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • The child Imran al-Madani was reportedly killed by an explosive barrel in Madera, Damascus, on February 22nd or 23rd, 2018 (via A'laa Shreke)

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.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 5
  • (0–1 children)
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (7) [ collapse]