Incident Code

TS274

Location

عفرين, Afrin city centre, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.511389, 36.864167
Accuracy: City

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: December 15, 2024

(Previous Incident Code: T161)

Between 5 and 11 civilians including up to four children died and up to 25 more were wounded in an alleged Turkish shelling (airstrikes and artillery) of Afrin city centre, according to local media in Syria.

Massoud Mohammad, a self-described journalist from Qamishli for Rojava, produced numerous reports on the event on Twitter. He put the death toll at five – including two children – with 25 more wounded.

One of his tweets said that Turkish artillery was randomly targeting residential neighbourhoods of Afrin city without care to any rules of war. He also tweeted a series of distressing images depicting casualties (many of them children) which were taken by journalist Azad Mirza @rojavapress1 who is covering the situation inside Afrin.

According to IC Afrin Resistance, at least 10 explosions were heard in the city. It added that despite the city is full of people, the attacks by the Turkish army were continuing. The source put the death count at six of which four were reportedly children, blaming Turkish airstrikes and shellings

Shervan Derwish (official spokesman for Manbij Military Council) put the death toll at seven, including one child, with 25 more non-combatants wounded.

The Boston Herald ran a story which mentioned the incident. It said: “Turkish forces shelled the Kurdish-held northern Syrian town of Afrin on Wednesday killing at least seven people, Kurdish forces reported Shells slammed into the heart of Afrin at dusk at intervals just second apart, forcing residents to rush for cover, according to the video published by the People’s Protection Units, known as the YPG.”

The highest death count was given by ANF, who reported the death of a family of 11 including two children and the wounding of the rest of the family.

ANHA named one fatality. Later ANF revealed two other.

Additionally, sources named 10 civilians who were wounded followed the incident.

In addition to two others, who were not identified. One who is 45 years old and the other a 6-year-old child.

Victims

Invidivuals

Aziz
40 years old male killed
4 years old male Via ANF killed
6 years old male Via ANF killed
30 years old female Via Afrin now facebook post injured
40 years old female Via Afrin now facebook post injured
30 years old female Via Afrin now facebook post injured
37 years old female Via Afrin now facebook post injured
76 years old Via Afrin now facebook post injured
47 years old female Via Afrin now facebook post injured
32 years old female Via Afrin now facebook post injured
26 years old Via Afrin now facebook post injured
20 years old female Via Afrin now facebook post injured
17 years old Via Afrin now facebook post injured

Key Information

Country
Military Actor
Civilian Harm Reported
Yes
Civilian Harm Status
Fair
Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
Civilians reported killed
5–12
2–4 Children, 2–3 Men
Civilians reported injured
12–44

Geolocation Notes

Reports of the incident mention the city of Afrin city centre (عفرين), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.511389, 36.864167. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Military Statements

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

Media From Sources (30)