408 civilians killed in Syria last month, reveals human rights report

A report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights revealed on Tuesday that 408 civilians were killed in April by the main parties to the conflict in Syria.

The network said that 212 of the victims were killed by the Syrian regime forces, including 43 children and 31 women, while 11 were killed while being tortured. Troops believed to be Russians are reported to have killed eleven civilians, including two children and four women.

The report pointed out that the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have killed 23 civilians, including two children, eight women and one civilian due of torture. A further 23 civilians were killed by extremist groups; 22 were killed by Daesh, including one woman, while the Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham group killed one civilian.

“Six civilians were killed by armed opposition factions, including three children, one woman and one civilian due to torture,” the network pointed out. It also documented the killing of four civilians, including two children, as a result of air attacks by international coalition forces. As many as 129 civilians, including 36 children and 19 women, were killed by unidentified means.

In total, the report recorded the killing of 3,812 civilians since the start of this year by the main actors in Syria. The rights group noted that 78 per cent of the civilian victims were killed by regime forces and Russian troops.

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