Initial Summary

• Place of incident: Wadi Khaled, Idlib countryside.
• Impact site: Wadi Khaled camp for internally displaced people.
• Date: Sunday, 6 November  2022.
• Timing: Between 06:50 and 07:15 Damascus time.
• Victims: One fatality and 19 injured.
• Munitions likely used: Reports indicate the use of ground-to-ground missiles possibly including the 300mm 9M55k variant.
• Potentially responsible: Syrian government forces and Russian Air Force are likely responsible for the incident.

## Introduction

Wadi Khaled camp in Idlib countryside was hit by missile strikes carrying cluster bombs on Sunday morning, 6 November 2022, between 06:50 and 07:15 Damascus time. The attack resulted in the death of one person and injuries of several others.

A screenshot from Google Earth of Wadi Khaled Camp (35.943033858998724, 36.59254143766249) in Idlib countryside, captured by Syrian Archive on 22 September 2023.

Wadi Khaled Camp is located west of Idlib. Satellite imagery shows the camp’s initial establishment in 2018, with an increase in the number of tents at the camp before the incident in November 2022. Over 100 families resided in the camp, mostly from the southern countryside of Aleppo.

Screenshots from Google Earth of satellite imagery from 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2022 showing the development of the number of families residing in Wadi Khaled Camp (35.943033858998724, 36.59254143766249), captured by Syrian Archive on 2 October 2023.

Wadi Khaled Camp is one of the six camps that were simultaneously attacked  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 from Google Earth depicting the distance between Wadi Khaled Camp (35.943033858998724, 36.59254143766249) and Maram Camp in Kafr Jalis (35.972691647961234, 36.59229477289928), captured by Syrian Archive on 22 September 2023.

What happened (and when)?

A video from the Civil Defense shows the first response to the incident as during the early hours of morning sunrise. A witness featured in a video published by the Watan organization on Facebook mentioned that an attack occurred on the camp in the morning, while they were having breakfast. Syrian TV also shared a video on Facebook of the camp after the attack.

Hours after the strikes, a correspondent from Syrian TV reported in two videos the death of one of the injured individuals as a result of the attack on Wadi Khaled Camp. He also mentioned other injured individuals at the location that had been hit by three cluster rockets, according to his account. He spoke of damage to the camp, which houses approximately 100 internally displaced families, mostly from the southern countryside of Aleppo.

Geolocation

A Civil Defense video that shows the evacuation of the injured from the area and their initial response amid people fleeing the area, reveals, with a video published by Syrian TV about two weeks before the attack in comparison with satellite imagery, the location of the attack.

At the top are two screenshots from a Civil Defense video. Below are screenshots from Google Earth of Wadi Khaled Camp (35.943033858998724, 36.59254143766249), with annotations added by Syrian Archive to compare prominent landmarks in the images taken on 21 September 2023.

At the top is a screenshot from a Civil Defense video, depicting the early moments of sunrise. Below is a screenshot from Google Earth of Wadi Khaled Camp (35.943033858998724, 36.59254143766249), with annotations added by Syrian Archive to compare prominent landmarks in the images taken on 21 September 2023.

Below are two images from a Syrian TV video of Wadi Khaled Camp taken two weeks before the attack. At the top is a screenshot from Google Earth of Wadi Khaled Camp (35.943033858998724, 36.59254143766249) with annotations by Syrian Archive to compare prominent landmarks in the images taken on 21 September 2023.

Timing

The Syrian Network for Human Rights quoted the director of Wadi Khaled Camp, stating that the attack occurred 5 to 6 minutes after the attack of Maram and Watan camps in Kafr Jalis, the timing of which had been previously established in an investigation. This indicates that the camp was attacked between 06:50 and 07:15 on 6 November 2023.

The available footage, shot immediately after the attack, allowed for the analysis of shadows and the position of the sun using the SunCalc tool. It supported the claims made in the video and other open-source media reports. The apparent location of the sun in the video segments corresponds to the moments of the first sunrise at the impact site on the day of the attack, which occurred at 07:00 local time according to SunCalc.

A screenshot from a Civil Defense video shows the initial moments of sunrise during their response to evacuating the injured at the site, captured by Syrian Archive on 26 September 2023.

Satellite imagery from Google Earth illustrates the shooting direction and the sunrise in the Civil Defense video, captured by Syrian Archive on 28 October 2023.

A screenshot showing the position of the sun and shadows in Wadi Khaled Camp at 07:00 Damascus time on 6 November 2022, using the SunCalc tool.

Impact sites

Photographs published by Syrian Network for Human Rights reveal five locations where projectiles fell in Wadi Khaled Camp, resulting in the death of one man and injury of 19 others, in addition to damage to tents housing the camp’s residents.

First site

At the top is a image from the Syrian Network for Human Rights, and at the bottom is satellite imagery from Google Earth showing the location of a crater created by one of the missiles that landed in Wadi Khaled Camp (35.943033858998724, 36.59254143766249), captured by Syrian Archive on 26 September 2023.

Second site

At the top is a image from the Syrian Network for Human Rights, and at the bottom are two satellite images  from Google Earth showing the location and terrain where munition remnants fell in Wadi Khaled Camp (35.943033858998724, 36.59254143766249), captured by Syrian Archive on 26 September 2023.

At the top are two images from the Syrian Network for Human Rights, and at the bottom is a screenshot from Google Earth showing the location where munition remnants fell in Wadi Khaled Camp (35.943033858998724, 36.59254143766249), captured by Syrian Archive on 26 September 2023.

Third site

At the top is a image from the Syrian Network for Human Rights, and at the bottom is  satellite imagery from Google Earth showing the location where a projectile fell in Wadi Khaled Camp (35.943033858998724, 36.59254143766249), captured by Syrian Archive on 26 September 2023.

Fourth site

At the top is a image from the Syrian Network for Human Rights, and at the bottom is satellite  imagery from Google Earth showing the location where a projectile fell in Wadi Khaled Camp (35.943033858998724, 36.59254143766249), captured by Syrian Archive on 26 September 2023.

Fifth site

At the top is a image from the Syrian Network for Human Rights, and at the bottom is satellite imagery from Google Earth showing the location where a projectile fell in Wadi Khaled Camp (35.943033858998724, 36.59254143766249), captured by the Syrian Archive on September 26, 2023.

Potential munitions used

A news report, accompanied by two images, was published by the “Ki-la Nansa” Facebook page, displaying remnants of one of the missiles that is claimed to have been used in the attack on the Wadi Khaled Camp.

Comparing the shrapnel found in Wadi Khaled Camp with an image from the ARES website suggests that the missile may be of the 300mm 9M55k variant. This is supported by the presence of nine holes in both images, as well as the cylindrical shape, the ring, and the rear shape of the missile.

At the top is an image from the ARES website showing remnants of a 300mm 9M55k missile, and at the bottom is an image of remnants from a missile claimed to have fallen in Wadi Khaled Camp, captured by Syrian Archive on 21 September 2023.

Image of remnants from a missile claimed to have fallen in Wadi Khaled Camp, captured by Syrian Archive on 21 September 2023.

A screenshot captured by Syrian Archive on 26 September 2023, displays remnants of shrapnel inside one of the tents in Wadi Khaled Camp, as seen in a video from the Watan Foundation on Facebook.

Potentially responsible

The Syrian Ministry of Defense, through its Facebook page, shared a video along with a statement that claimed an attack on “command centers and training camps affiliated with what they referred to as ‘terrorist organizations’” by the Syrian government forces in cooperation with the Russian Air Force. The statement also mentioned the targeting of those fleeing with missile strikes in the areas they sought refuge.

Activist accounts and pages affiliated with the Syrian government discussed an attack by Syrian government forces and Russia on areas in western Idlib without specifying their locations.

Simultaneously, activist accounts, journalists, news websites, and pages in Idlib reported an attack attributed to the Syrian government forces and the Russian Air Force on camps in western Idlib, including the Wadi Khaled Camp.

A previous investigation by Syrian Archive on a related incident relied on the effective range of the munition potentially used in the incident, an analysis of control areas within that effective range, military distribution maps in the region, and concluded that the Syrian government forces and the Russian forces were likely responsible for the attack. This munition was determined to have been launched from the southeast side, potentially between the regions of Saraqeb and Khan As-Sabil, located in the northeast and southeast of the camp.

The timing and date of the shelling in the six camps, including Wadi Khaled Camp, might indicate the responsibility of the same parties for the attack.

Military Deployment Map in Northern Syria - Source: Jusoor Center - 2020; This map includes all parties involved in the Syrian conflict, including government and non-government actors, and represents relatively stable military control areas.

Casualties

A video clip broadcast by Syrian TV, recorded hours after the attack on Wadi Khaled Camp, shows a gathering of camp residents and the cries of women and children upon receiving news of the death of one of the wounded individuals, Sultan Mohammed Hussein. The TV correspondent reported that he was a father of ten children, and several other people were also injured in the attack.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights, in its report, stated that one person was killed, and 19 others were injured in the attack on Wadi Khaled.

Damage

The attack caused a state of panic among the residents who had fled to nearby  farmlands after most of their tents were damaged, according to Fazaa Al-Hussein, the camp’s director, who spoke to  Radio Al-Kul. In addition to the material damage to the tents and properties, as shown in a video posted by the Watan Foundation Facebook page.

Screenshots from a video posted by the Watan Foundation on Facebook showing the material damage in Wadi Khaled Camp, captured by Syrian Archive on 26 September 2023.

Conclusions

Wadi Khaled Camp in western Idlib was attacked on 6 November 2023, between 06:50 and 07:15 local time, with at least one projectile , which may have been of the 300mm 9M55k variant. The attack resulted in the death of one person and the injury of others.

A previous investigation by Syrian Archive into the same attack that affected six camps suggested the potential responsibility of the Syrian government forces and the Russian Air Force.