Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

TS317

Incident date

October 12, 2019

Location

بركي, Pirikê, Hassakah, Syria

Geolocation

37.237153, 42.185783 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

@c1wan tweeted:  “A shepherd named Xelîl Seîd Hemkê Kurd lost his life after the Turkish army attacked the village of Pirikê with a howitzer. An Assyrian citizen named Danî Hena was also injured.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said: “A civilian who was grazing livestock was killed in shelling launched by the Turkish Forces on the outskirts of Qasr Dib village in the al-Malkiyyeh countryside.”

However, @serdar_melah and @kamaloskan and several other sources said that Xelîl Seîd Hemkê was killed by “a Turkish sniper”.

The incident occured during the day.

The victims were named as:

Xelîl Seîd Hemkê Kurd
Adult male A shepherd killed
Danî Hena
Age unknown injured

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery, Counter-Terrorism Action (Ground)
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • Causes of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions, Small arms and light weapons
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Turkish Military

Sources (10) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Translation: "A shepherd named Xelîl Seîd Hemkê Kurd lost his life after the Turkish army attacked the village of Pirikê with a howitzer. An Assyrian citizen named Danî Hena was also injured."

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Pirke (Pirikê/بركي), for which the generic coordinates are: 37.237153, 42.185783. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Turkish Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery, Counter-Terrorism Action (Ground)
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 man)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1
  • Causes of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions, Small arms and light weapons
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    Turkish Military

Sources (10) [ collapse]