at least 4,360 dead in 2023, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

A heavy toll. At least 4,360 people, including nearly 1,900 civilians, were killed in 2023 in the conflict in Syria which has dragged on since 2011, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) announced on Sunday, December 31. Last year, the Observatory presented a death toll of 3,825 as the lowest since the start of the war in Syria.

Among the victims in 2023 are 1,889 civilians, including 241 women and 307 children, according to the NGO based in the United Kingdom, but with a vast network of sources in Syria. After years of deadly and devastating fighting and bombing following the regime’s brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011, clashes have declined in recent years. Occasional and sporadic fighting takes place, in addition to jihadist attacks mainly in the east of the country.

Around 500,000 deaths since 2011

The conflict in Syria has caused more than half a million deaths since 2011 and has divided the country where several powers and actors are involved. Bashar al-Assad’s regime has regained control of a large part of the territory with the support of its Russian and Iranian allies, but Syrian Kurdish forces control large areas of the north and northeast.

About half of Idlib province (northwest) and areas bordering the neighboring provinces of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia are dominated by the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and rebel factions, supported to varying degrees by Turkey. The Idlib region is subject to a ceasefire negotiated by Russia and Turkey after a regime offensive in March 2020, but which has been violated several times.