Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

TS171

Incident date

February 9, 2018

Location

براكاسة, Barkasa, Afrin, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.723889, 36.800000 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

At least three civilians died, and more were wounded in an alleged Turkish airstrike which reportedly struck civilian homes in Barkasa, Syria, according to local media.

Xeber24 reported that two families remained under the rubble as a result of the bombing of Turkish aircraft that targeted the homes of villagers.

According to SotKurdistan, “there was a Turkish aerial bombardment of Afrin and its environs on Thursday. This led to the massacre of two families in the village of Berkashah in the area of Balbala. We learned that the rescue teams recovered the victims from the rubble, most of them were wounded, but we could not obtain the names.”

In a video, Rumaf named three wounded civilians including Rachid Sidou (67 years old). However, other sources named Rachid Sidou as killed (and put his age at 43 or 34, rather than 67). IC Afrin resistance tweeted an image of the victim’s funeral.

According to most sources, Rachid Sidou’s body was only discovered 15 days after the bombardment.

On February 26th the Kurdish news agency ANHA reported that Mr Sidou’s body was found under the rubble two weeks after his house was bombed. It added that no one had been able to reach the demolished building because of continued heavy shelling by the Turkish army.

The transcript of a video for the incident reads as follows:

“Voice off camera asking woman: What kind of shelling was it? Was it artillery or plane?

Woman: It was artillery. We were sleeping at my brother’s house. We usually sleep there and then we go to our house in the morning and spend the daytimes there. In the morning I was in our home and getting breakfast ready I went to the kitchen to get a cup, and I was shot in my foot, and then there was artillery shelling and firearms they were just hitting us. We were all injured. We were all civilians; they hit the civilians, not the military. There is no military there.

Off camera: You mean they’re deliberately hitting the civilians?

Woman: Yes, they demolished the civilians’ homes. They demolished half the village. There are still people there under siege we’ve spoken to them they’re still shelling the houses. There is a cave people are taking shelter in because the village is still being hit because they know there are civilians they won’t’ let anyone come out alive.”

It must be noted that this video transcript was also reported in the incident in Kafr Shila, 8th February 2018. It is unclear where this video belonged. 

According to Afrin Now, the wounded were taken to Afrin Hospital, two of them in stable conditions and the others in critical condition.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

34 years old male son of Abdel Hanan and Khadija Haji Rashid killed
38 years old male Via RuMaf injured
years old male Via RuMaf injured

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Barkasa, Afrin (براكاسة), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.723889, 36.800000. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–3
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Turkish Military

Sources (15) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (5) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    A picture shows the body of the victim Reşîd Ebdulhenan Seydo (43), found by Kurdish Red Crescent followed an alleged Turkish airstrike on Barkasa, Afrin. 9th February 2018. (via: IC Afrinresistance)
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    A picture shows the body of the victim Reşîd Ebdulhenan Seydo (43), found by Kurdish Red Crescent followed an alleged Turkish airstrike on Barkasa, Afrin. 9th February 2018. (via: Rojava)
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    A picture shows the body of the victim Reşîd Ebdulhenan Seydo (43), found by Kurdish Red Crescent followed an alleged Turkish airstrike on Barkasa, Afrin. 9th February 2018. (via: Afrin Now)
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    A picture shows the body of the victim Reşîd Ebdulhenan Seydo (43), found by Kurdish Red Crescent followed an alleged Turkish airstrike on Barkasa, Afrin. 9th February 2018. (via: Rumaf)
  • A picture shows a group of people carrying the victim Reşid Sido, 43 years old, killed followed an alleged Turkish air strike on Afrin, 9th February 2018. (via: IC Afrin resistance)

Turkish Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    3
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2–3
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Turkish Military

Sources (15) [ collapse]