April 13, 2018
With any war crime in Syria receiving significant media coverage, there has been a concerted effort by pro-Kremlin and pro-Assad individuals and media outlets to spread claims attacking the Syrian Civil Defense (White Helmets), a major source of information and footage on war crimes in the conflict. These attacks generally fall into two categories: claiming…
April 11, 2018
By Bellingcat Investigation Team
On April 7th 2018 reports began emerging of alleged chemical attacks on the city of Douma, in the rebel held pocket of Eastern Ghouta, Syria. Reports indicated that a significant number of people, including children, had been killed by these attacks. This report will assess and verify the open source information regarding these attacks, and…
April 9, 2018
Since the so-called Islamic State lost most of its control over oil resources in northeast Syria, various groups have replaced them to take control over the oil infrastructure–or, at least, what is left of it. In the recent Bellingcat article, Hazardous Legacies, an overview was provided of the damaged oil industrial sites and clusters of…
March 27, 2018
Over the course of seven years of war, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has engaged in armed conflict against various opposition forces composed of domestic rebels and foreign volunteers, often equipped with light weapons. Given the sheer amount of open source information available related to these events, it is possible to track the military vehicle…
March 19, 2018
By Bellingcat Investigation Team
On March 16, 2018, at around 21:00 local time (UTC+2), an alleged Turkish airstrike hit the main hospital of the Kurdish-majority city of Afrin, in northwestern Syria, where Turkey and allied Free Syrian Army (FSA) groups are engaging in an offensive against the People’s Protection Units (Kurdish: Yekîneyên Parastina Gel, YPG). The YPG and the…
March 15, 2018
Despite the repeated warnings by the international community for the Syrian government not to use chemical weapons during the war in Syria, the latter re-attacked al-Shefonia town with chemical weapons on February 25, 2018, which is the fourth consecutive chemical attack since the beginning of 2018 on the besieged Eastern Ghouta – Damascus countryside.
March 13, 2018
By Bellingcat Investigation Team
This article was originally published on Offiziere.ch Iran continues to upgrade the UAV airfield on the island of Qeshm which sits near the Strait of Hormuz, an important maritime choke-point. Satellite imagery acquired in late 2017 and early 2018 by Planet shows workers widening and lengthening the airfield’s runway. The clearing and leveling activity suggests Iran will…
February 19, 2018
Introduction In July 2017, the Syrian Archive, in partnership with Syrians for Truth and Justice, Justice for Life, Bellingcat and a flight observation organisation, published a report titled Medical Facilities Under Fire: Systemic Attacks during April 2017 on Idlib Hospitals. Detailed reports of eight hospitals or medical facilities targeted within one month in one province…
February 14, 2018
The following report was created in partnership with Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ). The Arabic version of this report can be read here. Preface On February 4, 2018, Saraqib, located in the southern countryside of Idlib, was hit by a poisonous gas attack, A helicopter affiliated to the Syrian regular forces threw two barrel bombs…
February 13, 2018
The complexity of the Syrian conflict reached a new point with renewed attacks on Syrian and alleged Iranian military targets in Syria, the shooting down of an Israeli F-16 by the Syrian Arab Army, and the downing of Iranian drone crossing into Israeli airspace. The latter showed a particularly interesting new detail regarding Iran’s military…
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