(Previous Incident Code: R4774)

During the morning of 6 December 2024, alleged Russian military and/or Syrian regime airstrikes, artillery, and/or naval fire hit the al-Malab neighbourhood, south of the stadium in Hama City, near Shafiq Abisi School in Syria. The strike reportedly resulted in the death of between four and seven civilians, including a father and his three children, and injured at least six others.

Hama Media Center reported that Abdul Hadi Shaghouri (Abu Taha) had been killed along with his three children, and that his wife and daughter had also sustained injuries and were in critical condition in the hospital. Fareez Al Shagore memorialized his uncle Abdul Hadi in a Facebook post and provided the names of his three children who were killed: Taha Abdul Hadi Shaghouri, Ahmed Abdul Hadi Shaghouri, and Adam Abdul Hadi Shaghouri. A post by Hama Media Center included a collage of images of Abdul Hadi, pictured posing and smiling in multiple different formal venues, and at least one of his sons.

@snhr reported only three deaths, adding that six others were also injured in the attack. Aljazeera provided a similar death toll of three and placed the number of injuries at seven, in addition to “causing massive destruction to civilians’ homes and properties in addition to the destruction of a school.” The highest death toll was provided by @alaraby__Brk which reported that seven civilians had been killed.

Images published by “Revolution News” on Facebook show damage sustained on the first floor of a building and by a nearby vehicle, all heavily covered in dust from the rubble. Enab Baladi included a video of the aftermath of airstrikes which hit “the southern part of the stadium in Hama.” – in the video, a journalist can be seen standing in front of the same building, and widespread damage is more visible, including multiple other destroyed vehicles.

Sources were conflicted as to who was responsible for the strike, with @AkhtarinMedia and @eyeonsyriaar attributing the strikes and civilian harm to Russian forces while @alaraby_ar, @snhr and others blamed the Syrian regime. @snhr reported that a rocket launcher had fired a rocket at Janoub al-Mal’ab, while other sources reported shelling, airstrikes, and “A heavy, long-range missile believed to have been launched from the sea”.