(Previous Incident Code: R3386)

Following the alleged Russian airstrike on Al Mentar detailed in event R3385, local media said that Russian warplanes returned to the area during the rescue attempts and struck the Syrian Civil Defence as they went about their duties.

Multiple sources reported that SCD volunteer and journalist Mahmoud Abdel Al was killed – in addition to the injury of up to five other members of the White Helmets.

Some sources claimed that Russia targeted militants in the area. For example, Arabic Sputnik said that the air force struck “a meeting of leaders of the Islamic Party of Turkestan (China)”, whose headquarters was targeted in a “precision strike.”

However, the Russian MoD denied conducting strikes in the area, telling Shaam News Network that “the information published by a number of Russian media outlets quoting ‘military sources’ about precision Russian airstrikes on targets in the province of Idlib does not fully correspond to reality. The Russian space air force has not hit any targets in the area.”