Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS3133

Incident date

March 1, 2018

Location

بيت سوى , Beit Sawa, Damascus, Syria

Geolocation

33.537531, 36.399937 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Three civilians were reportedly killed along with two wounded as Russian and/or Assad launched airstrikes and artillery shelling in the town of Beit Sawa, eastern Ghouta, Damascus, local media reported.

All sources reported the death of three civilians. The Violations Documentation Centre (VDC) reported that the three victims were all adult men.

Additionally, sources reported that two civilians were left wounded.

According to Smart News Agency, the incident inflicted great damage on a primary school and public property.

Some sources only mentioned the launch of airstrikes while others mentioned both air and artillery shelling. For example, the correspondent of @AleppoAMC reported the death of three civilians and wounding of others due to “a rocket attack.”

Reports were unclear in terms of culpability. Most sources, including VDC, attributed blame to the Syrian regime, while Smart News Agency as the only one identified Russia as responsible.

Finally, the Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that both the Syrian regime and Russian were to blame.

On a final note, it should be mentioned that the incident possibly took place the previous day, Wednesday, February 28th. Smart News Agency’s report from Thursday, March 1st namely report the killing of the three civilians on Wednesday and not Thursday.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Beit Sawa (بيت سوى ), for which the generic coordinates are: 33.537531, 36.399937. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Infrastructure
    Education
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3
  • (3 men)
  • 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 (7) [ 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 March 1st - 31st 2018.

Syrian Regime Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Infrastructure
    Education
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3
  • (3 men)
  • 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 (7) [ collapse]