Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS4300

Incident date

January 11, 2020

Location

سرمين, Sarmin, Idlib, Syria

Airwars assessment

Up to 10 civilians, including four children, were wounded in alleged Russian or Syrian regime airstrikes on the city of Sarmin, Idlib governorate, on January 11th, 2020, according to local sources.

Initial local sources reported many wounded civilians but no deaths. There were no names of the wounded immediately released and the numbers of wounded fluctuated. Syria-24 News reported ten wounded civilians, while Civil Defense reported seven wounded. A correspondent for Baladi noted seven wounded civilians, with four children among those who were injured.

Only one name, six-year-old Kinana Yassin, was released. The young girl was wounded along with all of her family members and @OM9gIkeG2us5IXi added that she was an IDP from the village of Atshan in the Hama countryside.

Local sources tweeted and posted images of the destruction of Sarmin City and stated that Russian warplanes had launched five consecutive strikes upon the heavily civilian area.

The Syrian Civil Defence reported that there were “thirty seconds of panic and death today in Sarmin city in Idlib, after regime’s warplanes attacked it with five airstrikes. Seven people were injured in the attack”.

Sources give conflicting reports on the belligerent of the airstrikes, blaming both Russian and Syrian regime forces.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Kinana Yassin
6 years old female injured

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    7–10
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (24) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (10) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Image of Kinana Yassin, injured in airstrikes on Sarmin on January 11, 2020. (Image posted by Melhem.abusaleh via Facebook)
  • Civilians were wounded in 5 consecutive raids targeting Sarmin on January 11, 2020. (Image posted by @QasiounAr)
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Image of Kinana Yassin, injured in airstrikes on Sarmin on January 11, 2020. (Image posted by @OM9gIkeG2us5IXi)
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Image of Kinana Yassin, injured in airstrikes on Sarmin on January 11, 2020. (Image posted by @11turkmgz)
  • Image of Kinana Yassin, injured in airstrikes on Sarmin on January 11, 2020. (Image posted by @11turkmgz)

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
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Civilians reported injured
    7–10
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Russian Military, Syrian Regime

Sources (24) [ collapse]