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Syria War Deaths Reach 387,000 in Slowest Annual Increase, Says Monitor

People visit a cemetery in the al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo. (Reuters file photo)
People visit a cemetery in the al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo. (Reuters file photo)
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Syria War Deaths Reach 387,000 in Slowest Annual Increase, Says Monitor

People visit a cemetery in the al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo. (Reuters file photo)
People visit a cemetery in the al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo. (Reuters file photo)

The overall death toll for Syria's 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 Hezbollah party whose members have been fighting in Syria since 2013.

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

It has also killed more than 67,500 extremists, mainly from the ISIS 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 ISIS 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 opposition 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.

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Arab World

Foreign Press Group Slams Israeli Police for Breaking Journalist’s Wrist

Israeli security forces disperse Muslim worshippers who were performing the nightly Taraweeh prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan outside the old city walls of Jerusalem on March 17, 2026, while the al-Aqsa Mosque compound remains closed. (AFP)
Israeli security forces disperse Muslim worshippers who were performing the nightly Taraweeh prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan outside the old city walls of Jerusalem on March 17, 2026, while the al-Aqsa Mosque compound remains closed. (AFP)
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Foreign Press Group Slams Israeli Police for Breaking Journalist’s Wrist

Israeli security forces disperse Muslim worshippers who were performing the nightly Taraweeh prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan outside the old city walls of Jerusalem on March 17, 2026, while the al-Aqsa Mosque compound remains closed. (AFP)
Israeli security forces disperse Muslim worshippers who were performing the nightly Taraweeh prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan outside the old city walls of Jerusalem on March 17, 2026, while the al-Aqsa Mosque compound remains closed. (AFP)

An international media association on Wednesday criticized an "unprovoked assault" by Israeli police on journalists in Jerusalem, which it said left a CNN producer with a fractured wrist.

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) said police officers on Tuesday night "unnecessarily and aggressively repelled a group of journalists who were doing their jobs, documenting individuals who were praying outside the walls of the Old City".

It said police detained several journalists, damaging photographic equipment and confiscating memory cards.

"During the assault, one Israeli officer fractured the wrist of a CNN producer," the FPA said in a statement.

"None of this is acceptable," added the association, which represents hundreds of journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

An AFP photographer at the scene said a small group of journalists had been documenting Muslims trying to perform the evening Taraweeh prayers outside the Old City walls, when a group of police suddenly arrived and "violently attacked the worshippers and journalists covering the event."

A foreign journalist told AFP that police "beat the CNN producer and some other journalists with batons," adding that "at least one Palestinian was detained".

AFP has asked Israeli police for comment on the incident.

Israeli authorities have closed holy sites in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem's Old City for security reasons since the outbreak of the Middle East war on February 28.

The FPA called on the police to "immediately take action against the officers involved in this unprovoked assault and to act in the future to safeguard press freedoms, rather than trample upon them."

In an X post, the Union of Journalists in Israel said it was "appalled" by the police conduct and urged the police commissioner to "immediately suspend the officers involved".

Arab World

Three Iraqi Fighters Killed in Strike Near Syria Border

Members of the Iraqi border forces patrol along a concrete wall on the Iraqi-Syrian border, in the town of al-Baghuz in the Al-Qaim district of western Iraq, on January 21, 2026. (AFP)
Members of the Iraqi border forces patrol along a concrete wall on the Iraqi-Syrian border, in the town of al-Baghuz in the Al-Qaim district of western Iraq, on January 21, 2026. (AFP)
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Three Iraqi Fighters Killed in Strike Near Syria Border

Members of the Iraqi border forces patrol along a concrete wall on the Iraqi-Syrian border, in the town of al-Baghuz in the Al-Qaim district of western Iraq, on January 21, 2026. (AFP)
Members of the Iraqi border forces patrol along a concrete wall on the Iraqi-Syrian border, in the town of al-Baghuz in the Al-Qaim district of western Iraq, on January 21, 2026. (AFP)

A strike near Iraq's western border with Syria killed three fighters from former coalition Hashed al-Shaabi on Wednesday, the alliance said.

The fighters from the alliance -- also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), now part of Iraq's regular armed forces -- were hit in an US or Israeli strike that targeted their main command centre in Anbar province, AFP reported.

Since the start of the Middle East war, Baghdad has repeatedly denounced attacks on the Hashed al-Shaabi, which also includes brigades belonging to Iran-backed groups.

Arab World

Israel Says Hit Hezbollah-controlled Gas Stations in Lebanon

Smoke and explosion following an Israeli air defense interception over Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, on the border with Lebanon, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Smoke and explosion following an Israeli air defense interception over Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, on the border with Lebanon, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
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Israel Says Hit Hezbollah-controlled Gas Stations in Lebanon

Smoke and explosion following an Israeli air defense interception over Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, on the border with Lebanon, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Smoke and explosion following an Israeli air defense interception over Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, on the border with Lebanon, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israel's military said Wednesday it had struck gas stations in south Lebanon belonging to a company owned by the Iranian-backed armed group Hezbollah.

"Overnight, the 'Israeli army' struck Al-Amana Fuel Company gas stations in southern Lebanon", the military said.

A map shared with the statement showed the locations of five gas stations the military said it struck, all in Lebanon's south, including two near the country's Mediterranean coast.

The statement added that the Al-Amana fuel company is controlled by Hezbollah "and constitutes fundamental economic infrastructure that supports Hezbollah's military capabilities".

It said Hezbollah receives "millions of dollars of profits" from the company via another Hezbollah-owned association to fund its military activities.

Since the war with Iran broke out, Israel has also bombed Al-Qard al-Hassan, a financial firm with links to Hezbollah.