Airwars assessment
Shortly before 5:30 PM on Wednesday, 16th October 2024, 11 identified civilians, including nine men and two children, were killed by an airstrike reportedly perpetrated by the Russian military on a wood saw mill and furniture manufacturing workshop located in the western outskirts of Idlib city, Syria, while workers were inside. 31 civilians were injured, including 14 children.
The Syrian Civil Defence (also known as “White Helmets”) first reported the airstrike at 5:30 PM on its Twitter/X account, reporting two civilian casualties resulting from it and further civilians trapped under the rubble. A video attached to the tweet showed large clouds of smoke billowing on the horizon, and the voice commented that the Russian military had attacked the city of Idlib.
In a later tweet at 5:41 PM, the White Helmets added that most of the injuries were in a critical condition, and there were still civilians under the rubble. The SCD attached a number of images showing rescue efforts carried out by their volunteers. One of the images showed five SCD volunteers transporting an injured boy on a stretcher while the sun was setting on the horizon. Other images showed a severely damaged building of the saw mill with parts of the walls missing, while the ground was covered with concrete chunks.
At 6:07 PM, the SCD tweeted that the number of injured rose to 21, adding an image of a boy with a head injury lying on a hospital bed. He was covered with a thick grey blanket while his face still had traces of blood and scratches from the injury. Another image showed a dead body in a black bag lying on a stretcher. One more image captured volunteers carrying a victim on a stretcher to an ambulance.
The SCD continued to update on the situation with rising death tolls until it rose to 11 civilian deaths and 32 civilian injuries, including 14 children. One of the injured died on October 21, bringing the injury toll to 31. People and casualties continued to be brought from the rubble by the Syrian Civil Defence forces, and they included many photos, especially one of the young boy Khaled Balsha, who was photographed smiling after spending five hours trapped under the rubble. White Helmets wrote an emotional post on the occasion of the boy’s salvation: “These are the moments of life, the feelings of hope and victory over death carried by the flames of Russian warplanes’ missiles. Our teams rescued the child “Khaled Balsha” alive from under the rubble of the furniture manufacturing workshop that was targeted by Russian warplanes on Wednesday evening, October 16, on the outskirts of the city of #Idlib.”
The images shared showed a smiling Khaled with his head bandaged, and part of his face still covered with dust and traces of blood, while a SCD volunteer was continuing to release him from the rubble. The last image showed Khaled already lying on a stretcher, ready to be transferred to a hospital.
Another video shared by the SCD on Twitter/X at 9:41 PM showed a rescue of an adult man from the rubble of the furniture workshop done by five White Helmet volunteers. They later put him on a stretcher. The face of the man was blurred, and there was a visible wound on the right side of his chest.
Syrian journalist Jamil Al-Hasaan (@Jamil_Alhasaan) posted a video filmed at the place of the incident where he was saying the following: “There are still people under the rubble here in the outskirts of Idlib. They were targeted by Russian planes. There are so many workers and families there. This is the second time this sawmill has been targeted, even though it consists of civilians only. There are 50 workers there. The civil workers are searching for people under the rubble. The people are also trying to find the martyrs, injured, and even missing people.”
The social media sources helped Airwars to identify the names of the 11 victims killed by the airstrike, who included a 54-year-old man, Ahmed bin Khaled Balsha, a 35-year-old man, Khaldoun bin Muhammad Salim Balsha, a 12-year-old boy, Abdul Mmuhaimen Suleiman Awad, and a 16-year-old boy, Baheej Dahman bin Muhammad Dahman Asaad, as well as other men (or children) whose exact age is unknown – Mustafa bin Omar Al Zeer, Adham Mahbani, Ghazi Darwish (Abu Nizar), Mustafa Arja, Mohammad Yahya Najjar, Ahmad Khaled Jabara and Ahmed Rabou.
According to the Syrian Civil Defense tweet from October 21st, the last victim, Ahmed Rabou died of his wounds sustained during the deadly attack.
A Facebook account “Martyrs of Idlib city” mourned the death of Muhammad Yahya Najjar, attaching his image. He was a middle-aged man with grey hair and dressed in a red T-shirt. He was standing apparently at his workplace at a furniture factory, as large wooden boards are seen behind him.
Facebook user Rasam grieved the death of Ghazi Darwish Abu Nizar, calling him a “beautiful martyr”. Ghazi was a young man with curly dark hair, large dark eyes, and a trimmed dark beard dressed in a grey T-shirt.
A Facebook post by Said Abo Abass mentioned some victims, among them the 16-year-old Baheej Dahman bin Muhammad Dahman Asaad whose picture he added to the post. Baheej was captured sitting on a stump dressed in a black sports suit.
The SCD also shared a video on social media showing multiple injured civilians being treated in a hospital. One teenager was treated for his foot injury, while another one – for his head injury. The video also showed how the volunteers were rushing to the hospital carrying one of the injured on a stretcher. The caption of the video reads: “Blood and the pain of their wounds fill the place, after a Russian airstrike targeted the sawmill and furniture workshop where they work on the outskirts of #Idlib city, today, Wednesday, October 16.”
In an emotional image shared by SCD, a crying mother was leaning on a shoulder of her injured son sitting on a hospital bed, and the caption read: “Leaning on his shoulders, she is tending to a wound that has become difficult to heal, after her son was injured in Russian airstrikes that targeted a sawmill and a furniture manufacturing workshop on the outskirts of Idlib city. This is an image that reflects the pain of mothers and their fear for their children, in a scene that has become common for Syrians, without any deterrent from Russia and the regime from all the crimes.”
AJA Syria corroborated details that the strike was perpetrated by the Russian military. A Twitter/X post by HadiAlabdallah reported that the airstrike was a result of a high-explosive missile, which led to the complete destruction and collapse of some buildings.
On the same day, the alleged Russian airstrike hit the stone-laying site near the village of Al-Habbat, west of the city of Maarat Misrin in the northern countryside of Idlib with three missiles, but there were no civilian casualties, only material damage as reported by the SCD in its tweet at 6:21 PM. In a video, the White Helmets showed a huge hole in the ground from the explosion as well as an excavator removing the concrete chunks.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all posts confirmed that the attack was conducted by the Russian military.
The incident occured at approximately 5:30 pm local time.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (35) [ collapse]
Media
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Source: Idlib
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Source: Siad
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Source: Ali adli
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Source: Maheo
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Source: Rasam
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Source: Rasam
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