(Previous Incident Code: R4163)

On February 4th, 2020 media activist Amjad Aktalati (“Amjad Abu Al-Joud”) and another civilians were killed in the town of Ariha, the victims of an aerial bombardment alleged to be carried out by Russia.

HalabToday TV tweeted that Ariha was struck by an alleged Russian airstrike, a claim also stated by a tweet from @saveIdlib. @saveIdlib also noted that Amjad Abu Al-Joud was “one of the last people to leave the city of Ariha”. Baladi News reported that “Aktalati” was “martyred as a result of bombing by Russian warplanes” upon a highly civilian neighborhood. @ibnqasuoon tweeted that Aktalati’s body “was still under the rubble” at the time of its report. After twelve hours, his body was finally removed, according to Smart News. Information from Baladi stated that the media activist was born in 1989, hailing from Idlib and living in Ariha.  He worked for Mercy Without Borders, the Syrian Civil Defense, and Miraj Media Production Company.

Ariha Today and Syrian Network for Human Rights also noted that another civilian, Fadi Rahhal was also killed in the same incident and was covered under the rubble for a long period of time.

On February 5th, Syrian Civil Defense reported that residential neighborhoods were struck allegedly by Russian warplanes, destroying residential buildings.

Various news agencies and activists noted that this attack was carried out by Russian warplanes.