(Previous Incident Code: R4515)

On 29th May 2023 three civilians, a man and his two children, were injured by machine gun fire and/or artillery shelling in the town of Maaret al-Nassan, east of Idlib.  The victims were treated locally before being sent to hospital. Sources were conflicted as to whether the Syrian regime and/or Russian forces were responsible.

Several sources reported the injuries had been caused by machine gun fire while two others reported they had been caused by artillery shelling (@Syr_television, @radioAlKul). The confusion may have arisen because of a separate attack – the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the initial machine gun attack in Maaret al-Nassan invited a response from rebel groups to which the Syrian regime initiated bouts of artillery shelling.

Both the Syrian Civil Defense (@SyriaCivilDefe) and Nedaa Post attributed the incident to both the Syrian regime and Russia while the other sources blamed only the Syrian regime. Neither the Syrian regime nor Russian forces have claimed responsibility for the attack.