The war in Syria erupted after the crackdown on protests against the government of Bashar al-Assad in 2011 and turned into a protracted war in which more than 306,000 civilians have been killed, according to the UN.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights announced today that 306,887 civilians have been killed in Syria during the war that erupted in March 2011, the highest death toll ever recorded by the UN agency.
The war in Syria erupted after the suppression of peaceful protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011 and turned into a multifaceted, protracted war.
Most of the front lines have been frozen for years, but violence and the humanitarian crisis continue with millions more displaced within Syria.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet stressed that the latest analysis gives her “a clearer sense of the seriousness and scale of the war”.
The report includes those killed as a direct result of hostilities, not those who died from lack of health care or access to food or clean water. Nor does it include the deaths of fighters.
The main cause of civilian deaths was the so-called “multiple weapons” (35.1%) which include clashes, ambushes and massacres, according to a UN report accompanying the announcement. The second leading cause of death was heavy weapons (23.3%).
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