(Previous Incident Code: R4660)

At least six civilians, including a woman and four children, were injured in a strike with contested responsibility allegedly perpetrated by Syrian regime forces and/or the Russian military and/or the Iranian military on the city of Ariha, south of Idlib, Syria shortly before 12:56 PM on Monday, January 22, 2024.

The Syrian Civil Defense (also known as “White Helmets”) was the first to report the incident at 12:56 PM on its Twitter/X account @SyriaCivilDefe. The initial report stated that five civilians including a woman, her two daughters, and two other children were injured in artillery shelling that affected a residential neighborhood in Ariha. The post included graphic images of the two injured children – one was a young girl with an eye injury, and another was an infant who was pictured crying. Later, the account issued a correction, clarifying that the damage was determined to be the result of a missile strike instead of artillery and that a man was also among the injured.

Posts by the Syrian journalist Ahmed Shibli (@ahmad_1alshble) reported the names of four civilians who were injured: Mila Tracy, a one-and-a-half-year-old girl with an eye injury; Zilal Tracy, a two-month-old infant girl; a child named Mohammed Harb from Daraa; and a 23-year-old woman named Aya Halabiya, likely the mother of Mila and Zilal.

A video posted by @SyriaCivilDefe showed the crying and distraught injured children being brought into the hospital for treatment, with other images showing the children covered in blood and being treated in the hospital. Twitter/X user @Omar_Madaniah and others shared a graphic image of the crying girl Mila Tracy on a hospital bed, with her right eye and right hand covered with blood.

A Facebook post by “Jericho Countryside” contained a graphic image of a teenager, apparently Mohammed Harb, who had a severe facial injury – his mouth was covered with bright red blood.

A post from Amir Ibrahim Tracy expressed their distress over the injuries to their nephew, his children and his wife, praying that “Oh God, heal them, heal them, ease their burdens”.

A video posted by @Jamil_Alhasaan showed what appeared to be the destroyed living area in a house, while the Syrian Civil Defense also tweeted a video of the destroyed exterior of a residential building.

Local sources mentioned the incident occurred in the city of Jericho (more commonly known as Ariha) in the Idlib countryside, hitting residential neighborhoods, a mosque, a school, an automated bakery, and the main market. The extent of the damage to the infrastructure is not known at the time of writing.

Where sources identified the belligerent, the majority of sources that reported on this incident attributed the strikes to Syrian regime forces, though some sources also referred to the Russian military and/or Iranian militias. Therefore, Airwars has graded both the strike status and civilian harm status of the incident as contested.