Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RS443

Incident date

January 22, 2016

Location

سرمدا, Sarmada, Idlib, Syria

Geolocation

36.18553, 36.72231 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Up to eight civilians including one child were killed and 12 others injured in an alleged Russian airstrike on Sarmada, according to local sources.

The Syrian Observatory for Human rights said that eight people (including a child and three people from the Palmyra area, a commander of a checkpoint belonging to a rebel faction and other fighters) were killed in raids by “warplanes believed to be Russian” on areas in the outskirts of the town of Sarmada near the Syrian-Turkish border and “the area of a checkpoint for the Islamic factions near Bab al-Hawa border crossing.

Reporting on the aerial bombardment on both Bab al Hawa and Sarmada, the Observatory added that the number killed had risen to 28, including four children and a woman, in addition  to “an Uzbek family and 22 rebels“.

The Shaam News Network published a graphic video showing the aftermath of strikes. The voice over in the footage says they were carried out by the regime, though the title of the video says they were Russian raids.

Another graphic video, by the White Helmets, showed members of their team being targeted by strikes by “warplanes” – though they did not identify them.

At 1:06 in footage published by Orient News, a civil defence volunteer says: “only two minutes after the raids hit the civilian areas of Sarmada, our vehicles were hit when we arrived at the scene. We now have around 10 dead.”

Arabi21 said that four Russian strikes killed a family of seven and injured 12 others.

 

 

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Adult male killed
Adult male killed
Adult male listed under Maddiq Castle where he comes from but it says he was killed in Sarmada. killed
Haj Mahmoud Mohammed Sheik
Adult male named by Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies killed
Unidentified
Age unknown named by Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies killed
Unidentified
Age unknown named by Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies killed
Unidentified
Age unknown named by Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies killed
Unidentified
Age unknown named by Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies killed

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4 – 8
  • (1 child4 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    12
  • 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

Sources (12) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (3) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Extremely graphic footage of the immediate aftermath of the incident in Sarmada. An injured man can be seen with half his face missing. (via, Media Civil Defence)
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Ali Khaled al-Sultan, killed in an alleged Russian raid on Sarmada. (via, VDC)
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    White Helmets checking the rubble for injured or deceased civilians. (via, SNN)

Russian Military Assessment:

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

Original strike reports

Russian Military

In its military report published on 25th January, the Kremlin said: “In the course of the last three days, January 22-24, aircraft of the Russian aviation group in the Syrian Arab Republic performed 169 combat sorties engaging 484 objects of terrorists’ infrastructure…crews of Tu-22M3 long-range bombers performed 18 combat sorties from the territory of the Russian Federation in order to engage manpower and hardware of the ISIS near Deir ez-Zor on January 22-24. Flight range reached more than 2,000 kilometers.“

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4 – 8
  • (1 child4 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    12
  • 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

Sources (12) [ collapse]