Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

TS481

Incident date

December 25, 2021

Location

كوباني, Kobani, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.889165, 38.353649 Note: The accuracy of this location is to City level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Up to five people, including three women, were killed and up to seven others were wounded in alleged Turkish drone strikes on the city of Kobani at 4pm on December 25, 2021. Sources are conflicted as to whether the victims were civilians in a home or escorts with a Syrian Defense Forces leader.

Hawar News Agency quoted the Autonomous Administration in the Euphrates as reporting that a Turkish drone attack in Kobani killed two civilians and injured seven others after striking a home east of the city. The statement added that all of the victims were taken to the city’s hospitals.

Hawar News later updated the death toll to five civilians killed by Turkish drone strikes. The Council of Martyrs’ Families in Kobani told Hawar that among the injured who were receiving treatment in the hospital, three lost their lives despite all the doctors’ attempts to save their lives. The source also provided the names of those killed: Nujian Ocalan, Vian Kobani, Rojen Ahmed Issa, Murhaf Khalil Ibrahim, and Walid Muhammad Manla Hussein. An image also provided shows that three of the victims were women.

A Facebook post from Ain Issa Plus identified Murhaf Khalil Ibrahim as being affiliated with the revolutionary youth in Ain Issa and added that he was killed at a gathering of SDF elements.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Turkish drones struck a house in the Maktalah neighbourhood near a Russian base east of Kobani city and the attack left two persons dead and three others wounded.

A media activist in Hasaka, Abu Omar al-Bukamali, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that a Turkish drone targeted a SDF leader in the city of Ayn al-Arab, killing his escorts and wounding seven others, some of them civilians, who were in the vicinity of the site. It is unclear if those referred to as escorts were also members of the SDF or civilians.

However, the co-chair of the Interior Ministry in the Euphrates region of the Autonomous Administration, Buzan Khalil, told local media that a Turkish army drone targeted a civilian house housing displaced people from the city of Tal Abyad in the Biman neighborhood, east of the city of Kobani, which led to the killing of two civilians and wounding seven others.

All of the sources that reported on the incident attributed the drone strikes to Turkey.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Nujian Ocalan نوجيان أوجلان
Age unknown female killed
Vian Kobani فيان كوباني
Age unknown female killed
Rojen Ahmed Issa روجين أحمد عيسى
Age unknown female killed
Murhaf Khalil Ibrahim مرهف خليل إبراهيم
Age unknown male killed
Walid Muhammad Manla Hussein و وليد محمد منلا حسين
Age unknown male killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the eastern area of Kobane (كوباني), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.889165, 38.353649. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2 – 5
  • (3 women1–2 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    3–7
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • 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
  • Belligerents reported killed
    0–1

Sources (9) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

  • An alleged Turkish drone strike east of the city of Kobani on December 25, 2021. (Image posted by Hawar News Agency)
  • Destruction caused by alleged Turkish drone strikes on Kobani on December 25, 2021. (Image posted by Xeber24)

Turkish Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2 – 5
  • (3 women1–2 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    3–7
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • 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
  • Belligerents reported killed
    0–1

Sources (9) [ collapse]