Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS4046

Incident date

August 18, 2019

Location

معرة النعمان, Ma'arat Al Nu'man, Idlib, Syria

Airwars assessment

One civilian was reported killed and two members of Syrian Civil Defense injured in the second of two consecutive alleged Russian airstrikes on Ma’arat Al Nu’man, Idlib, on August 18th, 2019.

Shaam News reported that, following a previous airstrike, “when civil defense teams arrived at the site to evacuate the wounded, Russian warplanes repeated its raids on the site, directly targeting the team, which led to the wounding of two defense and a civilian martyr.”

Edlib Media Center, and other sources, also stated that “two volunteers from the Civil Defense were injured as a result of a double raid by Russian occupation aircraft in Al-Hamdieh town south of Idlib.”

In October 2020, Human Rights Watch published a report including their investigation into this incident. HRW spoke with Muhammad Hariri, one of the survivors of the attack. Hariri, the SD ambulance driver, arrived at the site of a strike on a doorframe factory in an industrial neighborhood between 9:30 and 10 AM. Hariri told HRW that upon arrival, “he found a wounded boy who said he was 15-years-old lying under the collapsed roof of the factory and two wounded men, both workers, one of whom later died.”

Shortly after, there was a second strike. Hariri: “We put the wounded into the ambulance and were just starting to drive away when the next strike hit right next to my ambulance. I flew out and onto the ground. I was seriously wounded in my right leg, above the knee. I had to lie there and wait for my team members to come pick me up. I later went to Turkey for one and a half months of surgery, but I still can’t walk.”

Hariri is unaware of any military objectives in the vicinity of the site around the time of the attack.

All sources attributed the attack to Russian forces.

The incident occured between 9:30 am and 10:30 am local time.

The victims were named as:

Adult male Member of Syrian Civil Defense injured
Adult male Member of Syrian Civil Defense injured

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Suspected target
    Unknown

Sources (8) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • Image caption: "Mohammad al Hariri and Mahmoud al Thekra, members of Civil Defesne- Ma’aret al Nu`man center, were injured as fixed- wing warplanes we believe were Russian fired missiles on al Hamediya area in south of Ma’aret al Numan city in the southern suburbs of Idlib governorate, while they were aiding the injured of previous bombing by the same forces on the area, on August 18, 2019." (via Syrian Network for Human Rights)

Russian Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike and/or Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Suspected target
    Unknown

Sources (8) [ collapse]