Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

YS172

Incident date

March 6, 2024

Location

قرية سيد علي وبلدة تل مالد قرب مدينة مارع شمال حلب, village of Sayyed Ali and town of Tal Mald, near the city of Marea, north of Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria

Airwars assessment

At around midday on Wednesday, March 6th, 2024, one woman was killed and up to four civilians, including a woman and three children, were reportedly injured by an alleged artillery strike by the Syrian Defence Forces (SDF) on civilian homes in the wider area of the city of Marea, including the village of Sayyed Ali and the town of Tal Mald, north of Aleppo, Syria.

The village of Al-Sayyed Ali was hit by artillery shelling from rocket-propelled grenades according to a Facebook post by user @Sator. A woman was killed as a result of these strikes, although there was little information regarding the individual at the time of writing. A tweet by @SyriaCivilDefe reported the death of a woman and an injury of another woman; four photos are also attached. The first photo depicted a hospital scene with a body covered with a cloth on a stretcher which can be presumed to be the deceased. The remaining photos showed the physical damage around the village, with members of the White Helmets team on hand at the scene of the strikes. Traces of blood were seen on the ground.

There was a consensus amongst social media sources that reported on the incident that one woman was injured in the strike, although no additional information was provided. Furthermore, it is worth noting that a tweet by user @anwaralnahar mentioned that “a number of civilians” were injured as a result of the strikes.

Users @alfayhaamedia and @HalabTodayTV further corroborated these reports. A Facebook post by @Shmal reported injuries to three children, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights numbered the injured civilians at four.

Local sources referred to the location that the civilian casualties occurred as both the village of Sayyed Ali and the town of Tal Mald, with images showing residential areas that sustained damage from the shelling.

The shelling was reported to have originated from areas where control was shared between the SDF and pro-government forces but at the time of writing, all of the sources that attributed responsibility blamed the SDF.

The incident occured at approximately 12:00 pm local time.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Infrastructure
    Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1–4
  • 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
    YPG

Sources (17) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (5) [ collapse]

  • Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
  • Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
  • Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
  • Source: @SyriaCivilDefe
  • Source: @anwaralnahar

YPG Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Infrastructure
    Residential
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    1–4
  • 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
    YPG

Sources (17) [ collapse]