Conflict

Turkish Military in Iraq & Syria

Incident Code

TS441

Location

الدرباسية, Ad Darbasiyah, Al Hassakah, Syria

Geolocation

37.063375, 40.655364
Accuracy: Neighbourhood/area

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: December 15, 2024

Between one and three civilians were allegedly injured by a Turkish drone or mortar strike on Ad Darbasiyah.

Woofers tweeted: “Casualties reported (all injuries) are two Russian soldiers, a Syrian soldier, and a local civilian.

It would seem that the local civilian casualty may not exist and may be the Syrian soldier who may have been out of uniform.

No one I’ve spoken to has seen the reported UAV. I don’t know if it really was an airstrike. But everyone is reporting it as one.”

Rudaw reported: “At least one Russian soldier was injured in a drone attack in Darbasiyah town in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Thursday, according to Kurdish security forces (Asayesh) who blamed Turkey for the incident in which civilians were also hurt.

‘Turkish planes targeted a Russian forces point in the vicinity of Darbasiyah,’ read a statement from the Asayesh. ‘A drone, which belongs to the invading army, targeted a Russian forces military point on Thursday.’

‘A Russian soldier and three civilians were injured,’ stated the Asayesh, describing the site that was hit as a ‘strategic coordination point one kilometre south of Darbasiyah town on the road to Hasakah city.”

Other sources did not report civilian harm and said that at least two Russian soldiers and possibly one Syrian regime soldier were injured.

Nina described the attack as a “kamikaze drone strike” on Twitter.

Zafer Kabaoglu said three Russian soldiers and two YPG members were injured.

Rob Leee pointed out that the pictures of the munition used rather looks like a mortar round than Turkish drone missiles.

Key Information

Country
Military Actor
Strike Type
Airstrike (Drone Strike)
Strike Status
Likely strike
Civilian Harm Reported
Yes
Civilian Harm Status
Fair
Causes of Death / Injury
Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
Civilians reported injured
1

Geolocation Notes

Reports of the incident mention a Russia military checkpoint or area approximately 1km outside from Al Darbasiyah (الدرباسية). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. A possible location for this strike, that matches the type of building within the audio-visual material, is at these coordinates: 37.063375, 40.655364.

Reports of the incident mention a Russia military checkpoint or area approximately 1km outside from Al Darbasiyah (الدرباسية).

Imagery: Google Earth

A possible location for this strike, that matches the type of building within the audio-visual material.

Imagery: Google Earth

Military Statements

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

Media From Sources (13)