Initial summary

• Place of incident according to reports: Mourin and Baya’ba villages in Idlib countryside.
• Impact site: A residential camp for internally displaced people.
• Date: Sunday, 6 November 2022.
• Timing: Likely between 06:50 and 07:15 Damascus time.
• Victims: None reported.
• Munitions likely used: Reports indicated the use of ground-to-ground missiles carrying cluster bombs in the attack, possibly a 300mm 9M55k variant.
• Potentially  responsible: Syrian government forces and Russian air forces may be responsible for the incident.

Introduction

Reports were published about the attack on Mourin and Baya’ba camps in Idlib countryside, allegedly using ground-to-ground missiles loaded with cluster bombs on the morning of Sunday, 6 November 2022, between 06:50 and 07:15 Damascus time. The incident resulted in damages to a school fence and tents in the area.

Mourin camp

A screenshot from Google Earth of Mourin Camp (35.982166883888056, 36.559964844258516), with red markers placed by Syrian Archive on the image captured on 1 October 2023.

Mourin Camp is located within a cluster of camps in the village west of Idlib, which was inhabited by around 400 internally displaced families and 236 residents in 2022. Satellite imagery shows the establishment of the camp at the beginning of 2020, an increase in the number of tents in the camp  before the incident in October 2020, and a decrease in the number of tents before the incident in July 2022, with around 80 families residing in the area.

Screenshots from Google Earth illustrate the distribution of families in Mourin Camp (35.982166883888056, 36.559964844258516) between the years 2019-2022, with yellow annotations placed by Syrian Archives on the images captured on 2 October 2023.

Mourin Camp is one of six camps hit in simultaneous strikes on the morning of 6 November 2023. The Most severe attack occurred at the Maram and Watan camps in Kafr Jalis, which are located about 3 kilometers away from the Wadi Khaled Camp.

A screenshot shows the distance between Mourin Camp (35.982166883888056, 36.559964844258516) and Maram Camp (35.9700443480342, 36.594655572826554), which was hit by a strike on the same day on 6 October . The screenshot was captured by Syrian Archive on 3 October 2023.

At the top right, a screenshot from Al Jazeera Live channel’s video in March 2022. At the top left, a screenshot from Al Jazeera Live channel’s video in August 2020. At the bottom, a satellite image (35.982166883888056, 36.559964844258516) with annotations added by Syrian Archives to indicate the camp’s location on the images captured on 1 November 2023.

What happened (and when)?

At 07:32 on 6 November 2023, the account Abu Ali on Twitter posted a picture with a caption mentioning the fall of missiles in several camps, including Mourin Camp. Approximately two hours later, accounts such as Aleppo Today and Jaber Owayed reported news of an attack that targeted six camps in western Idlib, including Mourin Camp.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights, in a report, quoted the director of Mourin Camp stating that missiles fell inside and around the camp in a scattered manner. According to the report, One of the projectiles hit a school wall near the camp, with no casualties reported as “the children had not yet arrived for their classes.”

Impact sites

Photos published by the Syrian Network for Human Rights show three locations where projectiles fell in Mourin Camp. Syrian Archive was  able to confirm one of the locations, while the other two locations could not be verified due to the limited online content available about the incident.

The  two images above are from a report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights, showing the first impact site. Below is an image from Google Earth (35.98563614083586, 36.558751270758854). Annotations were added by Syrian Archive to pinpoint the impact location, photos captured on 1 October 2023.

A screenshot from Google Earth shows the distance between Mourin Camp (35.982166883888056, 36.559964844258516) and the first impact site at the school (35.98563614083586, 36.558751270758854) captured by Syrian Archive on 3 October 2023.

An image from the report of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, sourced from the Facebook page of “Hafsarja Alaz,” was taken on 6 November 2022 at 08:45 according to the timestamp shown in the image and claims to be of the second impact site near Mourin Camp. Syrian Archive was unable to confirm its location. Although, the coordinates used in the image’s title as labeled by the Syrian Network for Human Rights are 35.98822990611629, 36.55169645966959). Captured by Syrian Archive on 1 October 2023.

An image from the report of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, sourced from the Facebook page of “Hafsarja Alaz,” was taken on 6 November 2022, at 13:58 and claims to be of the third impact site near Mourin Camp. Syrian Archive was unable to confirm its location,  Although, the coordinates used in the image’s title as labeled by the Syrian Network for Human Rights are 35.98611011225219, 36.556532870593244). Captured by Syrian Archive on 1 October 2023.

Timing

There are no images or videos of the initial moments of the attack on Mourin Camp. However, the name of the camp was mentioned in reports on attacks on six camps, all within a radius of 2.73 kilometers. This suggests that the attack on Mourin Camp occurred when other camps were hit, between 06:50 and 07:15 in the morning. This aligns with the camp director’s testimony, collected by the Syrian Network for Human Rights, stating that the incident occurred before the start of the school day, which begins at 08:00.

Screenshot from Google Earth illustrates the distance between the six camps that were attacked on 6 November, captured by Syrian Archive on 3 November 3, 2023.

Potential munitions used

The picture from the Syrian Network for Human Rights report, which Syrian Archive was unable to verify, shows a man standing next to remnants of a munition allegedly found in the vicinity of the Mourin Camp.

The remnants appear to resemble ground-to-ground missiles of the 300mm 9M55k variant, which were reported to have been used in the attacks on the Kafr Jalis and Wadi Khalid camps at the same time and day.

The upper image, shows missiles of the 300mm 9M55K variant that fell in Azerbaijan. The lower image is from the Syrian Network for Human Rights report. The annotations were added by Syrian Archive for comparison with the images captured on 3 October 2023.

Potentially responsible

The Syrian Ministry of Defense, in a video posted on its Facebook page, discussed an attack carried out in collaboration with the Russian Air Force using aircraft and missile launchers on areas west of Idlib, which Syrian Archive identified as being close to the Kafr Jalis camps.

Accounts of activists and pro-government news sites reported incidents of attacks by Syrian government and Russian forces in western Idlib without specifying exact locations.

Simultaneously, accounts of activists, journalists, and news websites and pages in Idlib reported news of an attack, claiming that they originated from the Syrian government forces and the Russian Air Force, targeting camps in western Idlib, including the Mourin and Baya’ba.

A prior investigation by Syrian Archive on a related incident relied on the effective range of the munition potentially used in the incident, a study of the areas controlled within this effective range, and a map of military deployment in the region to identify a perpetrator. It concluded that the Syrian government forces and the Russian forces were likely responsible for the attack from the southeast, which could be between the areas of Saraqib and Khan al-Sabil located northeast and southeast of the camp.

The timing and date of the incident in the six camps, including the Mourin Camp, suggest the same parties to the conflict are responsible for the incidents.

Military Distribution Map in Northern Syria Source: Jusoor Center – 2020. This map includes all parties in the Syrian conflict, both government and non-government actors, and depicts relatively stable military control areas.

Additional location: Baya’ba Camp

The Baya’ba Camp is an informal camp located west of Idlib, approximately 260 meters away from the Watan Camp.

A satellite imagery from Google Earth of Baya’ba Camp in November 2021 (35.975337309565894, 36.588147734638284) captured by Syrian Archive on 3 October 2023.

Satellite images show the establishment of the camp at the beginning of 2020 and an increase in its population by October 2021.

A screenshot from Google Earth illustrates the distribution of families in the Baya’ba Camp between 2019 and 2022. The yellow annotations were added by Syrian Archive to images captured on 2 October 2023.

Reports alleged that the Baya’ba Camp was one of the six camps that were simultaneously  hit on the morning of 6 November 2023.

A satellite imagery from Google Earth shows the distance between the Baya’ba Camp (35.975337309565894, 36.588147734638284) and the Watan Camp (35.977351869610914, 36.59025610507109) captured by Syrian Archive on 3 October 2023.

Due to the absence of open-source content regarding the incident in Baya’ba Syrian Archive was unable to verify the impact of the incident or determine the munition used and its effects on the alleged location. Syrian Archive was unable to confirm the details of the incident.

Conclusion

On 6 November 2023, potentially between 06:50 and 07:15 local time, the Mourin Camp was subjected to a missile attack, possibly including a 300mm 9M55k variant. This attack resulted in minor material damage to the school building and nearby tents. Reports also alleged that the nearby Baya’ba Camp was attacked on the same day and at the same time.

A previous investigation by Syrian Archive into the same attack that targeted six camps suggests the possible responsibility of the Syrian government forces and the Russian Air Force for the incident.