Child Dead, Seven Injured in Syrian Regular Forces’ Shelling of Two Regions in Aleppo

On 22 and 24 of October 2018, a little girl died and seven other persons had injuries of various degrees in the Syrian regular forces’ shelling of the city of al-Bab and the town of Kafr Hamrah, Aleppo province. The shelling, according to testimonies obtained by Syrians for Truth and Justice/STJ, corresponded to the missile attack by the armed opposition groups, which targeted several neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo. 

It is worth mentioning that the shelling is a violation of the Sochi deal[1], concluded by the Turkish president and his Russian counterpart, the terms of which provide for establishing a demilitarized zone and putting an end to acts of violence. The deal entered into force on October 15, 2018.

On October 25, 2018, the local activist Mohammad Ward, based in the adjacent town of Khan al-Asal, narrated to STJ the details of the shelling that targeted the town of Kafr Hamrah on the evening of October 24, 2018:

 “With mortar and artillery shells, the Syrian regular forces bombed the town of Kafr Hamrah, causing the death of Jana Khalid, a 5-year-old girl, and the injury of three others. In retaliation, the National Front for Liberation shelled the neighborhoods of al-Mashhad, Aadhamiyye and al-Hamdania, with several missiles, launched from the National Front’s stronghold in the town of al-Mansourah.”

The Syrian Civil Defense published a video showing the body of the little girl Jana Khalid being recovered in the aftermath of the town’s shelling. Local activists also reported the shelling of the regions of Northern al-Rashedin and al-Bohouth al-Elmieah/Scientific Research, west of Aleppo city, on the part of the Syrian regular forces, in sync with the confrontations that broke out between the latter and the armed opposition groups at the front of al-Zahraa Association Square.

Likewise, on October 22, 2018, the city of al-Bab, western rural Aleppo, was targeted by heavy machine guns, where bullets and explosive projectiles were used. This shelling incident, which targeted the region of al-Saleh al-Shaabieh/Popular Hall, caused the injury of four persons, STJ’s field researcher reported.

On October 23, 2018, Bassam al-Ali, a civilian, informed STJ of the shelling that targeted the vicinity of the city of al-Bab. He said:

 “On Monday evening, I heard the sound of confrontations in the surrounding of the city, opposite to Tadef town. Several shells landed on the city, and stray bullets filled the air. The streets in the Popular Hall region were striving with passersby, above whom many explosive bullets blew up.”  

In an interview with STJ, Izzat al-Masri, a member of al-Bab Hospital’s medical staff, said:

“Four persons, with shrapnel wounds, were hospitalized. They are Abou al-Dlaim, hand injury, Sadik al-Dlaim, head and hand injuries, Mohammad al-Hussian, head injury, and Ahmad al-Nashef, whose head and abdomen were wounded.”

The city of al-Bab and the town of Kafr Hamra endured a similar shelling in September 2018, which, back then, caused the death of a man and the injury of 12 others. Covering the incident, STJ published a detailed news report. [2]