Syria sees deadliest month yet, 6,000 killed

March was the bloodiest month yet in Syria’s two-year-old conflict with more than 6,000 documented deaths, a leading anti-regime activist group said on Monday, blaming the increase on heavier shelling and more violent clashes.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the increased toll is likely incomplete because both the Syrian army and the rebel groups fighting President Bashar Assad’s government often underreport their dead in the civil war.

“Both sides are hiding information,” Abdul-Rahman said by phone from Britain, where his group is based. “It is very difficult to get correct info on the fighters because they don’t want the information to hurt morale.”

The numbers, while provided by only one group, support the appraisal of the conflict offered by many Syria watchers: The civil war is largely a military stalemate that is destroying the country’s social fabric and taking a huge toll on civilians.

The increase also reflects the continuing spread of major hostilities to new parts of Syria. While clashes continue in Aleppo, Damascus and Homs, Syria’s three largest cities, rebels have launched an offensive in recent weeks to seize towns and army bases in the southern province of Daraa, largely with the help of an influx of foreign-funded weapons.

The Observatory, which works through a network of contacts in Syria, said those killed in March included similar numbers of combatants on both sides: 1,486 rebels and army defectors and 1,464 soldiers from the Syrian army.

But the number of civilians killed exceeded them both: 2,080 total for the month, including 298 children and 291 women.