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Agence France-Presse

Almost nine years of civil war in Syria has left more than 380,000 people dead including over 115,000 civilians, a war monitor said in a new toll on Saturday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of sources across the country, said they included around 22,000 children and more than 13,000 women.
The conflict flared after unprecedented anti-government protests in the southern city of Daraa on March 15, 2011.
Demonstrations spread across Syria and were brutally suppressed by the regime, triggering a multi-front armed conflict that has drawn in jihadists and foreign powers.

The conflict has displaced or sent into exile around 13 million Syrians, causing billions of dollars-worth of destruction.
The Britain-based Observatory’s last casualty toll on the Syrian conflict, issued in March last year, stood at more than 370,000 dead.
The latest toll included more than 128,000 Syrian and non-Syrian pro-regime fighters.
More than half of those were Syrian soldiers, while 1,682 were from the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah whose members have been fighting in Syria since 2013.

The war has also taken the lives of more than 69,000 opposition, Islamist, and Kurdish-led fighters.
It has killed more than 67,000 jihadists, mainly from Islamic State and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group dominated by Syria’s former al-Qaeda affiliate.
The total death toll does not include some 88,000 people who died of torture in regime jails, or thousands missing after being abducted by all sides in the conflict.
With the support of powerful allies Russia and Iran, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has inched his way back in recent years to controlling almost two-thirds of the country.

That comes after a string of victories against rebels and jihadists since 2015, but also his forces being deployed to parts of the northeast of the country under a deal to halt a Turkish cross-border operation last year.
Several parts of the country, however, remain beyond the reach of the Damascus government.
They include the last major opposition bastion of Idlib, a region of some 3 million people that is ruled by the jihadists of HTS.
An escalation in violence there in recent weeks has caused 284,000 people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.

In the northeast, Turkish troops and their proxies control a strip of land along the border after seizing it from Kurdish fighters earlier this year.
Kurdish-led forces control the far east of Syria, where US troops have been deployed near major oilfields.
Syria’s conflict is estimated to have set its economy back three decades, destroying infrastructure and paralysing the production of electricity and oil.


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Syrian conflict

Syria death toll tops 380,000 in almost nine-year war

Syrian government forces fire at positions of rebel fighters. Photo: AFP

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on January 2, 2020 shows Syrian government forces firing at positions of rebel fighters in the countryside of Maaret al-Numan . - More than 235,000 people have fled the Idlib region over the past two weeks, the UN said Friday, amid heightened regime and Russian attacks on Syria's last major opposition bastion. The mass displacement between 12 and 25 December has left the violence-plagued Maaret al-Numan region in southern Idlib "almost empty," according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA. (Photo by - / SANA / AFP) / == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / HO / SANA" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ==

epa08100426 Displaced Syrian children look on as adults set up tents, after fleeing violence of Maarat al-Numan town, near the Turkish border, Northern Syria, 28 December 2019 (issued 03 January 2020). According to various media reports, some 30,000 people have left Maarat al-Numan, considered as the last strong hold of rebels in northern Syria. The number of the displaced, allegedly reached this figure by 24 December, almost emptying the devastated city from its inhabitants, who fled air strikes and heavy shelling. The Internally displace people fled towards the Turkish border, with many of them building unofficial camps in difficult terrain and wintery weather, reports said. EPA-EFE/YAHYA NEMAH

epa08100403 A view of a sprawling cemetery in Maarat al-Numan, some 31 km south of Idlib, Northern Syria, 24 December 2019 (issued 03 January 2020). According to various media reports, some 30,000 people have left Maarat al-Numan, considered as the last strong hold of rebels in northern Syria. The number of the displaced, allegedly reached this figure by 24 December, almost emptying the devastated city from its inhabitants, who fled air strikes and heavy shelling. The Internally displace people fled towards the Turkish border, with many of them building unofficial camps in difficult terrain and wintery weather, reports said. EPA-EFE/YAHYA NEMAH

epa08100398 Syrians leave town with their belongings on board small motorcycles to flee bombings by Syrian forces and allies, in Maarat al-Numan, some 31 km south of Idlib, Northern Syria, 24 December 2019 (issued 03 January 2020). According to various media reports, some 30,000 people have left Maarat al-Numan, considered as the last strong hold of rebels in northern Syria. The number of the displaced, allegedly reached this figure by 24 December, almost emptying the devastated city from its inhabitants, who fled air strikes and heavy shelling. The Internally displace people fled towards the Turkish border, with many of them building unofficial camps in difficult terrain and wintery weather, reports said. EPA-EFE/YAHYA NEMAH

Misery in Idlib: this could become the worst humanitarian crisis in Syria’s civil war

A Syrian child, one of those who fled from government forces' advance on Maaret al-Numan in the south of Idlib province, sleeps on a futon in the open at a camp near the border with Turkey. Photo: AFP

This picture taken on December 12, 2019 shows a view of tents at a camp for displaced Syrians at Khirbet al-Joz in the west of the northwestern Idlib province near the border with Turkey, where residents survive mostly on aid and barely have enough money to buy food and clothes to keep warm. - In recent months, Syria has suffered a fuel crisis that has seen a spike in the price of heating oil and long queues for much-demanded cooking gas in government-held parts of the country. The rising cost of heating fuel has made warm homes a luxury in a province where unemployment is high and public services are non-existent. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)

(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on December 18, 2019 shows the moments of a bomb impacting a building in a residential district of Maaret al-Numan in the Syrian northwestern Idlib province. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

Abu Ahmad, one of the last people to flee from Maaret al-Numan in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, reacts as he rides in a pick-up truck before leaving the town with his family towards a camp for the displaced, on December 24, 2019. - Syrian government forces on December 24 were less than four kilometres (two miles) from the strategic city of Maaret al-Numan, the head of the Britain-based monitor, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP. Fearing further advances, thousands of Maaret al-Numan's residents have fled. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

The UN said that more than 80 per cent of those who have fled southern Idlib this month were women and children. Photo: AFP

Pompeo pins blame on Russia, China as violence in Syria spikes and aid groups warn of imminent humanitarian disaster

Syrian men transfer a victim to an ambulance following a reported Syrian air strike in the town of Saraqib. Photo: AFP

Syrian men use an excavator to clear rubble following a reported Syrian air strike in the town of Saraqib, in the northwestern Idlib province on December 21, 2019. - Tens of thousands of civilians are fleeing bombardment in Syria's Idlib region, the United Nations said, as fighting flares in the jihadist bastion, fuelling an already dire humanitarian situation. (Photo by Ibrahim YASOUF / AFP)

TOPSHOT - A Syrian boy sits atop personal effects in the back of a pick-up truck fleeing bombardment in the town of Saraqib, in the northwestern Idlib province, on December 21, 2019. - Tens of thousands of civilians are fleeing bombardment in Syria's Idlib region, the United Nations said, as fighting flares in the jihadist bastion, fuelling an already dire humanitarian situation. (Photo by Ibrahim YASOUF / AFP)

Israeli air strikes in Syria leave at least 11 dead, civilians wounded

An Israeli M109 self-propelled howitzer is stationed near the border with Syria on November 19, 2019. Photo: AFP

Israeli soldiers and a Merkava tank are pictured near the border with Syria in the Israeli annexed Golan Heights on November 19, 2019. - Israel's air defences intercepted four rockets fired from neighbouring Syria, the army said today, prompting reported retaliatory missile strikes against the source of the fire. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP)

Israeli soldiers drive in their jeep through a mock Arab village built by the Israeli army for military training, with a building in the background bearing graffiti depicting Lebanese national and Hezbollah movement flags (R), in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on November 20, 2019. - The Israeli army carried out a "wide-scale" attack against Iranian forces and Syrian army targets in Syria early on November 20, killing at least 11 fighters, the Israeli army and a monitoring group said. In a rare confirmation of their operations in Syria, the Israeli army said they carried out dozens on strikes against the Iranian elite Quds Force and the Syrian military, in response to four rockets fired at Israel a day before. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP)

HANDOUT - 20 November 2019, Syria, Damascus: A picture provided by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows a woman receiving medical assistance after she was injured in Israeli airstrikes. Israel said it carried out "wide-scale strikes" on "Iranian and Syrian terror targets," in the early hours of Wednesday. The strikes were aimed at targets from the Iranian Quds Force, a force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard, and the Syrian military, the Israeli military tweeted. Photo: -/SANA/dpa - ATTENTION: editorial use only and only if the credit mentioned above is referenced in full

Commander of Syria’s Kurdish forces accuses Turkey of scuppering US-brokered ceasefire deal

Mazloum Abdi, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), attends a meeting with other commanders and representatives of the US-led coalition in the northwestern Syrian city of Hasakah. Photo: AFP

People attend a pro-Kurdish demonstration against Turkey's military action in northeastern Syria in Frankfurt, Germany, October 19, 2019. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan salutes during a gathering in Kayseri, Turkey, October 19, 2019. Mustafa Kamaci/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE

Kurdish fighters announce deal with Syria to deploy troops as Turkish offensive takes tolls

Mourners attend a funeral for Kurdish political leader Hevrin Khalaf and others including civilians and Kurdish fighters, in the northeastern Syrian Kurdish town of Derik. Photo: AFP

Turkish-backed Syrian fighters evacuate a wounded comrade near the border town of Ras al-Ain on October 13, 2019, as Turkey and it's allies continued their assault on Kurdish-held border towns in northeastern Syria. - Turkish forces and their proxies pushed deep into Syria Sunday, moving closer to completing their assault's initial phase, while Washington announced it was pulling out 1,000 troops from the country's north. (Photo by Nazeer Al-khatib / AFP)

Mourners carry the coffin of Kurdish political leader Hevrin Khalaf during a funeral, for her and others including civilians and Kurdish fighters, in the northeastern Syrian Kurdish town of Derik, known as al-Malikiyah in Arabic, on October 13, 2019. - Pro-Ankara fighters taking part in a Turkish offensive on Kurdish-held border towns in northeastern Syria "executed" at least nine civilians including a female politician on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)

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The conflict flared after unprecedented anti-government protests in the southern city of Daraa on March 15, 2011
Demonstrations spread across Syria and were brutally suppressed by the regime, triggering a multi-front armed conflict



The conflict flared after unprecedented anti-government protests in the southern city of Daraa on March 15, 2011.


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