230,000 Syrians killed, 13 million displaced since 2011: Rights group

GAZIANTEP, Türkiye

More than 230,000 Syrians have been killed and over 13 million displaced since 2011, a human rights group said on Wednesday.

In a statement, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said 230,224 civilians were killed, including over 30,000 and 16,000 women.

The report was issued on the 12th anniversary of the outbreak of pro-democracy protests in Syria in 2011, which were violently repressed by the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

The SNHR said regime forces were responsible for the death of over 201,000 people, while other fatalities were blamed for the Russian forces, the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group, armed factions, the terrorist separatist Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the US-led coalition forces.

According to the rights group, around 56% of the victims were killed during the second and third years of the uprising.

Nearly 52% of the deaths were reported in the provinces of Damascus, Aleppo, and Homs.

The SNHR said no less than 154,817 people have been arrested or forcibly disappeared in Syria.

“Of these, more than 135,000 are still held by the Syrian regime forces alone, including 5,199 children and 10,169 women,” it added.

The rights group documented the deaths of at least 15,272 civilians due to torture, with the regime forces blamed for 99% of these deaths.

Regime warplanes dropped no less than 81,916 barrel bombs since the first documented use of this weapon in July 2012, killing more than 11,000 civilians, it added.

It also documented 222 chemical attacks in Syria, with the Syrian regime blamed for 217 attacks, while Daesh/ISIS terror group was responsible for five chemical attacks.

“Around 1,510 people were killed in chemical attacks carried out by the Syrian regime,” it added.

The rights group said more than half of the Syrian people have been displaced since 2011.

“Nearly 13.3 million Syrians have sought refuge in other countries or have been forced to flee internally,” it added.

According to SNHR, the Syrian regime issued at least 22 amnesty decrees. “However, only 7,351 detainees have been released, while more than 135,000 citizens remain detained or forcibly disappeared,” it added.

Additionally, the report documented 874 attacks on medical facilities, 1,416 on places of worship, and 1,611 damaged schools, 87% of which were blamed for the regime forces and allied Russian and Iranian troops.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat