On the evening of September 2nd, 2023, in Sarmin, Idlib, an incident with contested responsibility— reportedly either a Syrian regime artillery attack or a Russian airstrike—killed six-month-old Yaman Munther Baydoun and injured at least three other civilians, including a child, with casualties confirmed by multiple sources including the White Helmets organization.
The majority of reports on this incident agree that the incident was an artillery bombardment by Syrian regime forces, resulting in a death and four civilian injuries, one of whom was a child and a sibling of the deceased infant Yaman Munther Baydoun. The injured child can be heard saying “I want my brother” to the Civil Defense volunteers in a video taken while they were trying to rescue the survivors. The infant casualty Yaman Munther Baydoun is said to have been six months old and an image of him before his death was shared by many twitter accounts such as @TvIdlib.
There were also many post event photos of young Yaman and his sibling who was also injured, and there were also photos of an older man in hospital provided by the Syrian Civil Defense. The White Helmets source claimed the event was a missile strike on a residential area, and the white helmets subsequently transported the recovered body of the 6 month old Yaman and the other injured to hospitals. The White Helmets source included photos of the deceased infant Yaman and his toy buried under shattered rubble and his injured nephew caked in the same rubble. This source quoted the maximum number of injured civilians of four alongside Yaman’s death. The minimum number of injured civilians were said to be three alongside the death of Yaman, and this minimum number was reported by Zamanalwasl News and NPA Syria.
There appears to be some disagreement regarding the perpetrator of the strike and its nature. All sources concur that it originated from the either the Syrian regime, the Russian air forces, or other Russian and pro-Assad aligned militias. Almost all sources believe that the incident was most likely caused by Syrian regime forces. This excludes three sources who blamed the Russian military: one individual on Twitter/X who also posted a photo of Yaman’s bloodied body in the hospital; another Twitter/X user who also attributed responsibility to Russian aviation; and finally, a local TV station’s Twitter/X account that claimed Yaman’s death was due to Syrian regime and Russian aviation.
The status of the strike is also contested as many sources allege it was an artillery bombardment by Syrian regime forces. However some alleged it was a result of missile strikes.
The incident occured in the evening.
The victims were named as:
Yaman Munther Baydoun يمان منذر بيضون
6 months years old
male
killed
