Introduction: At least four persons killed and up to 50 injured, including women and children, after a huge explosion that shook al-Thelatheen Street in Idlib city[1]– the province center- on 26 May 2018. STJ obtained several testimonies confirmed that the explosion was because of a car bomb that had been parked near the residential neighborhoods in the street, resulting in the death of two children along with two women, and causing considerable material damage to adjacent shops and residential buildings.
This is not the first time Idlib city is being subjected to this type of incident as on May 12, 2018, at least 14 people were killed and up to 30 injured after a car bomb detonated in front of the Palace of Justice, which ministries of the Salvation Government of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took as headquarters, STJ's field researcher stated. STJ had prepared a report on the incident. Furthermore, on April 9, 2018, at least 29 people were killed and more than 150 injured in an explosion that hit a residential neighborhood in Idlib city; many testimonies obtained by STJ were likely that reason of the explosion was a long-range missile launched from a Russian frigate in the Mediterranean, and STJ also prepared a detailed report on that incident.
STJ's field researcher said the party responsible for the bombing has not been identified yet, and that traces of the car bomb were found, but HTS Security Committee prevented filming it. He added that the impact site did not contain any military headquarters, and that some of the injured were in critical condition, including women and children, who had been transferred to the border hospitals. He concluded that Idlib province has recently experienced same incidents, mostly recorded against unidentified persons, and this led to a common state of fear and panic among the civilians.
Details of the Incident
Around 12:25 p.m. on May 26, 2018, a huge blast occurred close to the residential neighborhoods in al-Thelatheen Street in Idlib city, causing significant material damage to eight six-storey buildings, according to Muhammad Rahmo, a native who was near the impact site. He told STJ,
"That afternoon, while I was at home located in al-Thelatheen Street, a huge explosion occurred and glass of the doors and windows broke. At first, I thought it was an explosion on the first floor of the building, but minutes later, the ambulances and people's voices began to fill the place. I tried to check on my family members, especially since one of my children was slightly injured by the window glass, so I carried him and went quickly downstairs; I was shocked when I saw flames and smoke everywhere, let alone the great devastation. At first glance, I did not believe my eyes, and then I went to the main street where the rescue teams and the Civil Defense had arrived. They took my kid and we went to the medical points; when we arrived at the hospital, there had been a large number of children who were injured by the explosion, some of them were alone; nobody accompanied them."
Images show some of the children victims who were injured in the explosion in Idlib city on May 26, 2018. Photo credit: STJ
In another testimony to STJ by Suhaib al-Kahl, a media activist in Idlib city, he said the widespread phenomenon of bombings and assassinations in Idlib province has become a source of concern for the people, and in this regard he added:
"In the afternoon of May 26, 2018, I heard a huge explosion close to my neighborhood, so I immediately went to the impact site to document the incident. When I got there, the car that blew up was parked near two residential buildings that housed displaced people who came from the countryside of Homs and Damascus. The death toll of the explosion was two children and two women, in addition to more than 50 wounded people, mostly women and children. There were approximately 6 burning cars and a large crater of 5 meters deep because of the explosion. It should be mentioned that there was no headquarters or military points in this neighborhood, only contiguous residential buildings inhabited by the locals and the displaced people. This is the second explosion of its kind that hit Idlib city during May 2018 alone after the one that hit the Palace of Justice a while ago."
Images show the devastation affected to residential buildings in al-Thelatheen Street due to the explosion on May 26, 2018. Photo credit: STJ
Analysis of visual evidence
One of the personnel in Surgical Specialty Hospital in Idlib, told STJ that on May 26, 2018, they received up to 40 injuries, more than 70% of them were children, and that the injuries varied between medium and serious, which meant that the death toll was not final and could be more than four persons because of some critical injuries. He added most of the wounded were affected by shrapnel in the head or in their entire body, and that preliminary information indicated that the car bomb could be a big vehicle due to the magnitude of the destruction it caused.
Images of some children victims who were affected due to the explosion of a car bomb in Idlib city on May 26, 2018. Photo credit: STJ
Hasan al-Mukhtar, another witness from Idlib city, told STJ that he went to the impact site after the explosion and saw how the Civil Defense teams pulling out the dead and the wounded from under the rubble. He added,
"As soon as I arrived, I saw the Civil Defense teams pulling out four persons from the rubble. As for the injured, their number was too large, ambulances were evacuating them very quickly and then returned to transport others. A state of panic and fear prevailed among the townspeople, notably that the impact site was just a civil neighborhood, with no traces of other things."
An image shows the devastation affected to the residential buildings in al-Thelatheen Street in Idlib due to the detonation of a car bomb on May 26, 2018. Photo credit: STJ
In another testimony by Ahmed Sheikho, the media director of the Civil Defense Centre in Idlib province, they had hastened to the impact site once it took place, and pulled bodies of the dead and the injured, whose numbers reached 51, including women and children. He noted that the explosion caused several fires in houses, shops and cars that were on the street.
STJ's field researcher was able to document identities of two of the dead who died after a car bomb exploded in Idlib city on May 26, 2018, and said that the two other victims had not been identified yet as a result of the significant disfigurement of the bodies due to the severity of the explosion. Names are:
- Fatima al-Khalid
- Abdurrahman al-Hamdan, a child.
- An unidentified lady.
- An unidentified female child.
[1] Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) controls Idlib city.