Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

YS097

Incident date

February 8, 2021

Location

الباب, Al Bab, Aleppo, Syria

Geolocation

36.371244, 37.515772 Note: The accuracy of this location is to City level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

One child was killed and nine civilians injured in alleged YPG or Syrian regime artillery shelling on the city of Al Bab, Aleppo governorate on February the 8th.

At the start, local sources reported that at least nine civilians, including at least four children and three women, were injured in alleged YPG or Syrian regime artillery strikes on the city of Al Bab, Aleppo governorate, on February 8th, 2021. Some of the victims remain in critical condition.

Howeber, on February 12th, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, Macro Media Center and @mohamed1aldaher reported that child Taim Maatarmawi died on February 12th of injuries he sustained on February 8th.

According to the Syrian Civil Defence (@SyriaCivilDefe), “10 civilians, including four children and two women, were wounded, some of them in critical condition, today, Monday, February 8, by an unknown-source missile strike, on the city of Al Bab in the eastern countryside of Aleppo. Our teams rescued the injured and worked to secure the place.”

According to a correspondent for Enab Baladi, the bombing took place around 6:30 PM and came from areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). @zakaria19972 tweeted: “10 wounded, including four children and three women, as a result of the YPG militia targeting the city of Al Bab, northeast of Aleppo, with missiles.”

Shahed Agency wrote that eight civilians were injured as the results from strikes with five missiles by the Qasd Militia, stationed in the outskirts of the city. Shahed Agency’s correspondent said that “civil defence teams transported the injured from the targeted places to the hospital in the city, and also recovered a wounded child from under the rubble as a result of the collapse of the house wall due to the bombing.”

The Syrian Arab News Agency, affiliated to the Syrian regime, wrote that “violent clashes with heavy weapons broke out this evening between the Turkish occupation forces and their mercenaries on the one hand and the “Qasd militia” on the other hand, causing the injury of at least 14 civilians, including 5 children and three women, and material losses to the homes, properties, and public properties of the people in the city of Al Bab and several villages in its vicinity.” It is unclear if the injury toll only includes civilian casualties in Al Bab.

Ahmad Ali Makra published the names of nine injured civilians, including four children and three women, on Facebook. @seerij80 posted a photo of an injured child on the ICU as the result of the strikes.

Shaam News Agency reported ten wounded, including a woman in a critical condition and four children, as the result of shelling on civilian residential areas. The missiles reportedly came from “the area of ​Al Sukkariyya and Al Urimah, which is considered a common area between the Assad regime and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).”

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said “A three-year-old child, named as Taim Obadah M’atramawi, from Ma’aret al Numan city in the southern suburbs of Idlib governorate, died on February 12th, 2021, due to wounds sustained on February 8th, 2021, when a Syrian regime missile launcher shelled a residential area in al Bab city in the eastern suburbs of the governorate. SNHR can confirm that the area attacked is a civilian area and is free of any military presence or equipment.”

@OtmanAlkneter reported nine injured, and said that the following areas had been targeted: “The side of the Great Mosque, beside Azraq Pharmacy” and “near El Kurdi Generator”. @IdlibPlus mentioned the use of rocket-propelled grenades.

While a few sources did not attribute blame for the strikes, most sources blamed the YPG for targeting the city of Al Bab. However, the Syrian Network for Human Rights blamed the Syrian regime for this incident. The source said “Syrian regime forces used a missile launcher to shell al Bab city in the eastern suburbs of Aleppo governorate on February 8th, with the missiles that landed in residential areas and near the city’s al Kabir Mosque. As a result, ten civilians, including a child, were injured, while a number of residential buildings were partially destroyed and the mosque’s structure and furniture were partially damaged on February 8th.”

Also the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights accused the Syrian regime, backed by Russian forces, of responsibility for the casualties and the incident. The source said that casualties took place as a result of “artillery shelling by the Manbij Military Council forces, which were carried out at Russian orders, on the town of Al-Bab, an area under the control of Turkish-backed factions in eastern Aleppo countryside.”

Shaam Network didn’t rule out a Syrian regime’s involvement in this incident when they said that missiles were fired from the area of ​​al-Sukkariyya and al-Urimah, considered a common area between the Assad regime and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The incident occured at approximately 6:30 pm local time.

The victims were named as:

Family members (4)

55 years old female injured
3 years old male Died of his injuries four days later killed

The victims were named as:

17 years old male injured
11 years old male injured
37 years old female injured
20 years old female injured
7 years old female injured

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 child)
  • Civilians reported injured
    9–14
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attackers
    YPG, Syrian Regime
  • Suspected target
    Unknown

Sources (29) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (38) [ collapse]

  • Medical staff helping an injured child after alleged YPG strikes on the city of Al Bab, Aleppo governorate, on February 8th, 2021 (via Enad Baladi).
  • Translation: “10 wounded, including four children and three women, as a result of the YPG militia targeting the city of Al-Bab, northeast of Aleppo, with missiles” (via @zakaria19972).
  • An injured child receiving medical help after alleged YPG strikes on the city of Al Bab, Aleppo governorate, on February 8th, 2021 (via @zakaria19972).
  • Remnants of one of the missiles reportedly used in alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab on February 8th, 2021 (via @zakaria19972).
  • Aftermath of alleged YPG strikes on the city of Al Bab, Aleppo governorate, on February 8th, 2021 (via @zakaria19972).
  • Translation: “The first moments of our teams' response to the missile strikes that targeted the city of Al-Bab, east of Aleppo, which injured 10 civilians. Our team inspected the bombing sites and works to remove the effects of the explosion from the scene” (via @SyriaCivilDefe).
  • Translation: “10 civilians, including four children and two women, were injured, some of them in critical condition, as a result of bombing the city of Al-Bab in the eastern countryside of Aleppo” (via @fawaz_jwaid).
  • An injured man after alleged YPG artillery strikes on Al Bab on February 8th, 2021 (via @fawaz_jwaid).
  • Translation: “10 civilians, including four children and two women, were wounded, some of them in critical condition, today, Monday, February 8, by an unknown-source missile strike, which was hit by the city of Al Bab in the eastern countryside of Aleppo” (via @RaedAlSaleh3).
  • Civilians at the site after alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab, Aleppo governorate, on February 8th, 2021 (via @RaedAlSaleh3).
  • Remnants of artillery after alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab, Aleppo governorate, on February 8th, 2021 (via @RaedAlSaleh3).
  • Rubble being cleared form the site after alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab, Aleppo governorate, on February 8th, 2021 (via @RaedAlSaleh3).
  • Damage after alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab, Aleppo governorate, on February 8th, 2021 (via @RaedAlSaleh3).
  • Translation: “10 civilians, including four children and two women, were wounded, some of them in critical condition, today, Monday, February 8, by an unknown-source missile strike, on the city of Al-Bab in the eastern countryside of Aleppo. Our teams rescued the injured and worked to secure the place” (via @SyriaCivilDefe).
  • A Syrian Civil Defence volunteer at the site after alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab, February 8th, 2021 (via @SyriaCivilDefe).
  • Damage after alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab, Aleppo governorate, on February 8th, 2021 (via @SyriaCivilDefe).
  • Aftermath of missile strike on Al-Bab, Aleppo, Feb 8th, 2021. (via SCD)
  • Remnants of missiles used in strikes on Al-Bab in Aleppo, Feb 8th, 2021. (via SCD)
  • Translation: “Civilian casualties with missile strikes on the city of Al Bab in the eastern countryside of Aleppo. Our correspondent Malik Abu Ubaida and the details” (via @HalabTodayTV).
  • Translation: “Nine injuries, most of them children, as a result of the missile strikes that targeted residential neighborhoods in the city of Al Bab in the eastern countryside of Aleppo” (via @mohmad_rasheed).
  • Translation: “Part of the destruction caused by the missile strikes of the SDF on the city of Al Bab in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, which resulted in the injury of eight civilians, including children” (via @ShahedagencyAr).
  • Remnants of a missile after alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab on February 8th, 2021 (via @ShahedagencyAr).
  • Aftermath of alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab on February 8th, 2021 (via @ShahedagencyAr).
  • Rescue workers at the site after alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab on February 8th, 2021 (via @ShahedagencyAr).
  • Remnants of a missile after alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab on February 8th, 2021 (via @ShahedagencyAr).
  • Aftermath of alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab on February 8th, 2021 (via @fawaz_jwaid).
  • An injured child after alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab, Aleppo governorate, on February 8th, 2021 (via @fawaz_jwaid).
  • Remnants after alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab, Aleppo governorate, on February 8th, 2021 (via @fawaz_jwaid).
  • An injured child receiving medical help after alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab, Aleppo governorate, on February 8th, 2021 (via @fawaz_jwaid).
  • Translation: “Several explosions in residential neighborhoods in the city of Al Bab, east of Aleppo, were caused by unidentified rocket shells, and news of a number of civilian casualties” (via @MNoaymi).
  • Photo of alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab, Aleppo governorate, on February 8th, 2021 (via @MNoaymi).
  • Translation: “Remnants of rockets and the resulting destruction in the city of Al Bab in the eastern countryside of Aleppo” (via @ZaitunAgency).
  • Remnants of a missile after alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab on February 8th, 2021 (via @ZaitunAgency).
  • Remnants of the weapon used in alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab on February 8th, 2021 (via @ZaitunAgency).
  • Remnants of a missile after alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab on February 8th, 2021 (via @ZaitunAgency).
  • Translation: “The city of Al Bab, east of Aleppo, was subjected to direct bombardment by the PKK militia on the gatherings of our civilians, causing injuries, and this is a picture of an injured child in intensive care” (via @seerij80).
  • An injured child in the ICU after alleged YPG strikes on Al Bab, Aleppo governorate, on February 8th, 2021 (via @seerij80).

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the city of Al Bab (الباب), for which the generic coordinates are: 36.371244, 37.515772. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

YPG Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    YPG
  • YPG position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Syrian Regime Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Syrian Regime
  • Syrian Regime position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 child)
  • Civilians reported injured
    9–14
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attackers
    YPG, Syrian Regime
  • Suspected target
    Unknown

Sources (29) [ collapse]