Syria War Deaths Reach 387,000, 1,703 from Hizbullah

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The overall death toll for Syria's civil war has crept up to 387,000 following the least deadly of 10 years of conflict, a monitor said Wednesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria, said the new figure included almost 117,000 civilians, among them more than 22,000 children.

The Observatory's previous tally was issued in January and stood at more than 380,000.

The fighting, which erupted in 2011 after the brutal repression of anti-government protests, has largely abated this year as a ceasefire held in northwestern Syria and attention turned to containing the coronavirus pandemic.

The latest toll included more than 130,500 pro-government fighters, among them foreigners.

More than half of those were Syrian soldiers, while 1,703 were from the Lebanese Shiite group Hizbullah whose members have been fighting in Syria since 2013.

The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 57,000 non-jihadist rebel fighters.

It has also killed more than 67,500 jihadists, mainly from the Islamic State group and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group dominated by ex-members of Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate.

More than 12,500 Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces fighters have been killed in battles against IS and Turkish forces.

The Observatory's toll does not include some 88,000 people it says died of torture in government-run prisons, nor thousands who were abducted during the conflict and are still missing.

After turning the tide of the war with Russian and Iranian support since 2015, the Syrian government now controls around two-thirds of the country.

Among the regions still beyond its reach are the last rebel enclave of Idlib in the northwest, Turkish-held areas along the northern border, and northeastern parts of the country held by US-backed Kurdish forces.

The war has forced more than half the country's pre-war population to flee their homes.

Some 6.7 million Syrians remained displaced inside the country, while 5.5 million are registered as refugees abroad, according to the United Nations.

Comments 4
Missing un520 over 3 years

It should have been the other way around: 387000 dead Hezbollah terrorists

Missing rami over 3 years

Il manque deux 0.

Thumb chrisrushlau over 3 years

With all due respect to Mr. London-Based Monitor, his figures for government and takfiri fighters seem dubious. When one side has airpower, the other side tends to die more. Mr. Monitor may be out of his depth.

Default-user-icon cocoman (Guest) over 3 years

This Syria war is a blessing for Lebanon! More dead terrorists please! 1703 is definitely not enough, and probably a lie since these SoBs don't know anything except to lie