(Previous Incident Code: R4013)

One civilian reportedly died in an alleged regime or Russian airstrike on Ma’ar Shamsha, southern Idlib countryside, around noon on December 17, 2019.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that the victim’s name is Mohammad Abdul Razzaq Al Shahhoud.

According to Al Jazeera, the attack had been “carried out by Syrian regime helicopters”. Facebook User Haisam.aldalati.7 reported instead that Sukhoi-24 warplanes conducted the strike. Jisr Press detailed that the strike consisted of two barrel bombs.

Relatives of the victim mourned their loss on social media, among them Al Shahhoud’s daughter, Zahra Shahhoud, who posted on Facebook: “The heart grieves, and we are sad for your separation from us, my father. May Allah accept us, and we are patient, with Allah’s permission. But dad, tears betray the eyes. We belong to God and to Him we shall return”. Al Shahhoud’s cousin (with the Facebook User name “91Zakarya”) also mourned his relative’s death.

Video footage documents the explosion cloud above what seems to be Ma’ar Shamsha. Other video footage by Enab Baladi shows families in distress in the aftermath of the attack, as well as a White Helmet rescue operation on their way to the affected area.