Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS3569

Incident date

December 31, 2018

Location

بكسريا, Baksriya, Idlib, Syria

Geolocation

35.866414, 36.213093 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

An unknown number of civilians, including a child, was injured in alleged Russian or Syrian regime artillery strikes on the town of Baksriya, Idlib governorate, on December 31st, 2018, according to local sources.

@LccSy reported “civilian casualties following the shelling of a ballistic missile on the village of Baksriya, west of Jisr Al Shughour.” @ahmad_haj_bakri wrote that “a number of civilians were wounded in the village of Baksriya in the western countryside of Idlib, as a result of targeting a cluster missile believed to be from the Russian warships stationed in the sea.”

Several sources, such as@IdlibPlus, reported that a child had been injured the missile strikes. Hamah Now reported that multiple children had been injured.

@spc_fr reported that the incident had been a cluster bomb attack. According to Edlib Media Center, a ballistic missile had been loaded with cluster bombs.

While a majority of sources blamed Russia for the attack, other sources such as @HamahNow pointed to the Syrian regime.

Masr Al Arabia wrote that it was the first time since the agreement on a demilitarized zone on September 17th, 2018, between Russia and Turkey that a Russian airstrike took place in the area.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Baksriya (بكسريا), for which the generic coordinates are: 35.866414, 36.213093. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • (1–2 children)
  • 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
  • Suspected target
    Unknown

Sources (21) [ collapse]

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Syrian Regime Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • (1–2 children)
  • 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
  • Suspected target
    Unknown

Sources (21) [ collapse]