3.1.1.3.1
Case Study
This video shows two men describing an attack by presumed Russian warplanes on a
village in Anjara (Arabic: )ﻋﻧﺟﺎرة, in the countryside west of Aleppo, Syria. The video begins
with the first man describing the attack. It then depicts cluster munitions and shows the
various holes in the ground created by the dropping of cluster bombs on the field. The same
man also indicates the area which has been affected. Following this, the second man also
describes the attack while holding, what seems to be at first glance, a cluster munition split
in half. The video ends with the depiction of a funeral during which the victims of the
alleged attack are buried.
When analyzing this video it is important to take notice of the indicators, which may lead to
determining the geolocation. These include (1) the minaret (0:19), (2) the shape of the
asphalt road (0:30-0:34), (3) the location of the buildings along the road, (4) a large metal
electricity pole (0:31), and (5) a large cemetery (0:43).
Furthermore, after having looked for corroborating evidence, a second video was found.
This video showed the immediate aftermath of the same incident. It is filmed while driving
in a car, and the car drives away from the mosque (see Overview map) in the direction of
‘2’, which it passes, and then arrives just before point ‘1’. As the smoke is rising from that
point, it is likely that the immediate area around ‘1’ on the map is the impact area of the
alleged cluster bombing.
The incident was further corroborated by an article on Al Jazeera Arabic. The article,
published on February 22, 2016, states the incident occurred “yesterday afternoon”,
meaning February 21, 2016.
Camera position 1, coordinates: 36.220527, 36.952976
21
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents