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.

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 attackers
    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 attackers
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime
  • Suspected target
    Unknown

Sources (21) [ collapse]