Airwars assessment
Three civilians were reported to have been killed and at least eight injured by either Syrian regime forces or Russian forces in an airstrike on November 16th 2019 in Maarzita, in the de-escalation zone in Idlib, northern Syria.
According to various sources such as Halab Today and Syria TV, one civilian was a doctor on duty with the Idlib Health Directorate, identified as Doctor Mohamed Hashum. Syria TV reports that he was “wounded in the bombing while carrying out a mission to assess the medical and emergency situation in the southern countryside of Idlib.” SOHR News reported that Dr Hashum later died of wounds sustained in the airstrike.
Although the majority of sources identify the deceased doctor as Mohamed Hashum, Abo Ameer Al Homsi and SNHR described him as Jamal Hashoum.
Various sources reported injured civilians. Step News reported that there were ten casualties, who were “transferred by the Civil Defense to hospitals”, whereas Shahba Press puts the number wounded at eight.
There were various mentions that “barrel bombs” were used in the attack, some sources attributed them to ‘Russian warplanes’ whilst others said that they were from “Assad’s helicopters”.
A local source on social media with handle @Mohmad_Rasheed included a video of the moment the airstrike hit Maarzita.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as: