Over 5,000 civilians killed in Syria in 2 years: NGO

By Adham Kako

ANKARA (AA) - A total of 5,783 civilians were killed in Syria, mainly by the Russian forces, over the last two years, according to a report released by Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) on Saturday.

The report said 1,596 children and 992 women were among those killed between Sept. 30, 2015 and Dec. 31, 2017.

It said nearly 2.3 million individuals were displaced as a direct result of the Russian offensives along with their allies.

At least 294 “massacres” were committed by the Russian forces, while 141 attacks targeted the medical facilities, leaving at least 53 medical personnel dead, according to the report.

Russian forces used cluster munitions in nearly 217 attacks.

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. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.