During the early morning of Thursday, 5th September 2024, a drone strike injured a 40-year-old man in the village of Al-Jarad, north of Manbij in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, Syria. While several sources alleged the strike was perpetrated by the Turkish military, one source reported that the local “Military Council” shot down a Turkish drone, and the ensuing explosion caused the injury.

Mahmoud Hussein al-Khalaf was wounded, though information on the severity of his injuries was not made available. Forat News reported that Mahmoud Hussein al-Khalaf was injured as a result of a drone exploding after it was shot down by Manbij Military Council forces at 6:30am. However, other sources reported that Mahmoud Hussein al-Khalaf was injured as a result of a second Turkish ‘suicide drone’ that hit the village of Al-Jarad after the Manbij Military Council previously shot down an initial drone. Due to this disparity, Airwars has currently graded this incident as contested.

Sources alleged that the drone attack coincided with artillery strikes on the village. Manabij Times specified on Facebook that a “guided missile was also launched at the village simultaneously with the shelling.”

The Facebook page for the Military Council of Manbij posted a video showing an injured man, possibly Mahmoud, lying on a hospital bed with a bandaged arm and reported that “the number of shells reached 17 mortar and artillery shells.” Similarly, SOHR News reported that ‘more than 15 shells fell on the village, causing panic among civilians’  and posted a photo of the drone’s impact on the ground. Forat News also included a photograph of the used munitions.