912 civilians killed in Syria last month: UK-based NGO

By Adham Kako

ANKARA (AA) - A total of 912 civilians were killed in Syria last month, according to a new report by a London-based NGO devoted to tracking rights violations in war-torn Syria.

In a monthly report issued on Monday, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documents civilian deaths throughout Syria during the month of September.

According to the SNHR, regime forces were responsible for most of last month’s civilian deaths, followed by Russian forces.

The report found that a total of 912 civilians, including 144 women and 200 children, were killed at the hands of the parties to the conflict during the period in question.

September saw a rise in the numbers of civilian victims killed by the Syrian-Russian alliance forces after the alliance launched a heavy offensive in Idlib on Sept. 19, according to the report.

"Syrian regime forces topped all other parties in terms of killing civilians in September, followed by Russian forces," the report read.

“On the other hand, the international coalition’s death toll dropped to less than half its levels last August,” it added.

According to the report, a total of 8,115 civilians have been killed from the start of 2017 until October at the hands of the parties to the conflict.

Since the civil war in Syria erupted in March 2011, more than 250,000 people have been killed, according to the UN. The Syrian Center for Policy Research puts the death toll at more than 470,000.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict mainly by regime airstrikes on opposition-held areas, while millions more were displaced.