Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS3076

Incident date

February 23, 2018

Location

الشيفونية, Al Shifonya, Damascus, Syria

Geolocation

33.5582404, 36.4335823 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Up to seven civilians, allegedly five from the same family, were killed and several were left wounded Russian and/or Assad forces struck Al Shifonya, eastern Ghouta, Damascus, local media reported.

The intense shelling of eastern Ghouta continued on Friday, February 23rd, including in Al Shifonya. Here, the strikes struck residential areas, and Douma Revolution reported that more than 15 airstrikes had been launched in the city. And al-Jazeera, who cited a source in the Civil Defense, said that Al Shifonya had been subject to both phosphorus bombs, cluster bombs, explosive barrels and napalm-conaining bombs.

The death toll spanned from two to seven. The lowest reported by SYR_REV_NEWS for example, while Baladi News reported seven fatalities. However, many reported five civilian victims, all allegedly from the same family, as reported by both Insaan Rights Watch, Enab Baladi and Syrian Network for Human Rights (SN4HR).

Douma Revolution identified four victims by name, hereof one woman, though it was unclear whether she was a minor or adult.

Without specifying, sources reported that several civilians also were wounded in the incident.

It was, however, unclear whether blamed should be attributed only to Russia, as reported by LCCSY, or whether the incident was carried out by joint Assad/Russian forces, as suggested by several media, including SN4HR and al-Jazeera.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (2)

Age unknown male killed
Age unknown male killed

The victims were named as:

Age unknown female killed
Age unknown male killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Al Shifonya (الشيفونية), for which the generic coordinates are: 33.5582404, 36.4335823. 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
    2 – 7
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • 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 (11) [ collapse]

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
    2 – 7
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • 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 (11) [ collapse]