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Website has additional data and graphs.
Syria
– How Syrian Civilians Are Dying – Mothers, Wives, Grandmothers, Sisters,
Daughters, Loved Ones
Beyond the data, the numbers, are the personal losses of this war, devastating lives, security, hopes and dreams.
By KAREN YOURISH, K.K. REBECCA LAI and DEREK WATKINS SEPT. 14, 2015
More than 200,000 Syrian people have been killed in the 4 1/2-year Syrian
civil war.
The constant violence has forced more than four million to flee the
country, fueling a refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe. The country is
so
dangerous that a definitive tally of deaths is not possible, but several groups
are trying to document how many Syrians have died, and what killed them.
“With each passing day there are fewer safe places in Syria,” Paulo Sérgio
Pinheiro, chairman of the United Nations panel investigating human rights
abuses in Syria, wrote in a recent report. “Everyday decisions — whether to
visit a neighbor, to go out to buy bread — have become, potentially, decisions
about life and death.”
At least 984 Syrian civilians were killed by exposure to chemical or toxic
substances.
The Syrian government has been accused of using chlorine-filled barrel
bombs. An attack in 2013 killed hundreds of people (some estimates were upward
of 1,500) in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus controlled by the opposition, when
the area was struck by several rockets containing sarin, a nerve agent known to
be part of the Syrian military’s stockpile. There are also reports that the
Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has used mustard gas in northern
Syria.
Hundreds of people were killed in a nerve
gas attack in the Ghouta region near Damascus. Bassam Khabieh/Reuters
At least 28,277 Syrian civilians have died in shootings and mass killings.
Thousands of civilians have been victims of mass shootings and gunfire
between government forces and insurgents. In one case documented by the United Nations, more than
100 people, including at least 49 children, were killed in Homs on May 25,
2012. Most were shot at close range.
The U.N. reports that armed opposition groups have also executed children,
but lack of access in areas controlled by the Islamic State has prevented
systematic documentation. “In places like Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, it’s almost
impossible to verify the information,” said Bassam al-Ahmad, spokesman for the
Violation Documentation Center in Syria.
At least 18,866 civilians were killed in Syrian government air attacks.
Syrian warplanes and helicopters have blasted civilian targets like
mosques, schools and shopping markets in insurgent-controlled areas with barrel
bombs — large containers filled with explosives and projectiles — and other
weapons. As the government lost control of the country, said Mr. Ahmad of the
Violations Documentation Center, “they began using new tactics by dropping air
bombs.” More than a quarter of the dead are children.
At least 565 Syrian civilians died from starvation, dehydration or lack of
basic medical care.
The death toll, documented by the Syrian American Medical Society through
January 2015, does not capture the many people — estimates range from 200,000
to more than 600,000 — who have been under siege for more than a year and are
at risk of starving to death or dying from other preventable causes.
The majority of those besieged are trapped by the Syrian government in the
Damascus area, according to Valerie Szybala, the primary author of a report by the Syrian American Bedical Society and
executive directive of the Syria Institute, a new think tank.
Note: Estimates of deaths caused by shootings and mass killings; mortar,
artillery and rocket attacks; Syrian government air attacks;
kidnappings/torture; and exposure to chemical or toxic substances are provided
by the Violations Documentation Center and are as of Sept. 9, 2015.
Thousands of civilians have been victims of mass shootings and gunfire
between government forces and insurgents. In one case documented by the United Nations, more than
100 people, including at least 49 children, were killed in Homs on May 25,
2012. Most were shot at close range.
The U.N. reports that armed opposition groups have also executed children,
but lack of access in areas controlled by the Islamic State has prevented
systematic documentation. “In places like Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, it’s almost
impossible to verify the information,” said Bassam al-Ahmad, spokesman for the
Violation Documentation Center in Syria.
At least 27,006 Syrian civilians were killed in mortar, artillery and
rocket attacks.
Both government and insurgent forces have used “weapons that are guaranteed
to cause civilian damage,” said Geoffrey Mock, a Middle East specialist at
Amnesty International. Children account for about 20 percent of these deaths.
The Syrian government has repeatedly fired imprecise rockets and unguided
bombs, according to the United Nations and other monitoring groups. Insurgent
groups have used so-called “hell cannons” — improvised artillery devices fitted
with explosive gas canisters that cause widespread damage.
“What we are seeing in Syria is war crime on both sides,” Mr. Mock said.
Syrian warplanes and helicopters have blasted civilian targets like
mosques, schools and shopping markets in insurgent-controlled areas with barrel
bombs — large containers filled with explosives and projectiles — and other
weapons. As the government lost control of the country, said Mr. Ahmad of the
Violations Documentation Center, “they began using new tactics by dropping air
bombs.” More than a quarter of the dead are children.
At least 8,871 civilians were killed after being kidnapped, detained and/or
tortured.
The United Nations and others have documented rampant use of torture by
both government and opposition forces, including crimes against children
targeted for appearing to be pro-government. In March, thousands of photos
surfaced showing detainees who were said to have died in Syrian prisons. The
photos were smuggled out of Syria by a former Syrian military photographer.
Secretary of State John Kerry said that the photos showed evidence of torture.
At least 654 Syrian medical workers were killed in attacks on hospitals.
The United Nations has accused the Syrian government of using attacks on hospitals as a “weapon of war.” Physicians for Human Rights documented nearly 300 attacks on hospitals through July, most of them carried out by pro-Assad forces in opposition-controlled areas.