PHOTO: A man carries a young victim from regime bombing of Douma near Damascus, December 2015


Regime forces were responsible for more than 73% of civilian deaths throughout Syria in 2015, according to a report by a leading group documenting casualties in the 58-month conflict.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights, a group of 23 researchers, documented 16,425 deaths through field investigations and interviews with survivors and witnesses. It found the regime killed 12,044 people, far ahead of the Islamic State (1,366), rebels (1,072), Kurdish militia (132), and Jabhat al-Nusra (89). Russian bombing killed 832 people, and 271 died from US-led coalition airstrikes.

SYRIA CIVILIAN DEATHS 2015

Of those killed by regime forces, almost 2,600 were children, more than 75% of the deaths in 2015. Rebels were responsible for 258 child casualties, followed by Russian airstrikes (199), the Islamic State (149), the US-led coalition (87), Kurdish militia (32), and Jabhat al-Nusra (13).

The regime was also responsible for almost 75% of almost 3,000 women victims documented by the SNHR.

The report says the regime tortured more than 1,500 people to death in 2015, more than 97% of the total of 1,592 victims. Of 66 chemical attacks during the year, 64 were by the Syrian military and two by the Islamic State.

SNHR, a group of 23 researchers, compiled its report from field investigations or interviews with survivors and witnesses.