Syria’s War Killed Over 3,700 in 2021

A displaced person living in a cave in an archaeological area in Idlib, northwest Syria (Reuters)
A displaced person living in a cave in an archaeological area in Idlib, northwest Syria (Reuters)
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Syria’s War Killed Over 3,700 in 2021

A displaced person living in a cave in an archaeological area in Idlib, northwest Syria (Reuters)
A displaced person living in a cave in an archaeological area in Idlib, northwest Syria (Reuters)

The Syrian war killed 3,746 people in 2021, a monitor said Wednesday, significantly fewer than in 2020, which had already seen the decade-old war's lowest death toll.

According to figures compiled by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 1,505 of them were civilians and among those 360 were children.

Land mines and explosive objects constitute an issue in the war, as the Landmine Monitor said in November that Syria had overtaken Afghanistan as the country with the highest number of recorded casualties from landmines and other explosive remnants of the war.

The 2021 death toll shows a significant decrease compared to the year before, during which the Observatory recorded the deaths of more than 6,800 people.

The Syrian conflict in 2019 killed more than 10,000 people, while the year 2014 recorded the death of 70,000 people, the highest annual toll of the war.

According to SOHR figures, 600 members of the regime forces and more than 300 fighters from groups loyal to them have died this year.

The Observatory also recorded the deaths of about 600 ISIS terrorists and other extremist factions, compared to 158 from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and about 370 fighters of the opposition and Islamic factions.

The total death toll decreased during 2020 and 2021 due to the decline in the intensity of battles in several areas, especially in the Idlib governorate.

Although a ceasefire was announced in March 2020 in the region, it has been subjected to numerous violations.

Since 2011, the conflict in Syria has killed nearly half a million people and driven more than half of the population to flee within or outside Syria.

Meanwhile, a man succumbed to his injuries in al-Qamishly hospitals due to Turkish bombardment on Zarkan town in the northwestern countryside of al-Hasakah, bringing the death toll to four civilians, including a girl and a woman.

Furthermore, SOHR documented the death of three Turkish-backed “National Army” members after bombardment by SDF on their position near Turkish posts in “Peace Spring” areas in the Hasakah countryside.



7 Killed in Drone Strike on Hospital in Sudan's Kordofan

A Sudanese man rides his decorated bicycle as others (unseen) rally in support of the Sudanese armed forces. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)
A Sudanese man rides his decorated bicycle as others (unseen) rally in support of the Sudanese armed forces. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)
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7 Killed in Drone Strike on Hospital in Sudan's Kordofan

A Sudanese man rides his decorated bicycle as others (unseen) rally in support of the Sudanese armed forces. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)
A Sudanese man rides his decorated bicycle as others (unseen) rally in support of the Sudanese armed forces. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)

A drone strike Sunday on an army hospital in the besieged southern Sudan city of Dilling left "seven civilians dead and 12 injured", a health worker at the facility told AFP.

The victims included patients and their companions, the medic said on condition of anonymity, explaining that the army hospital "serves the residents of the city and its surroundings, in addition to military personnel".

Dilling, in the flashpoint state of South Kordofan, is controlled by the Sudanese army but is besieged by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The greater Kordofan region is currently facing the fiercest fighting in Sudan's war between the army and the RSF, as both seek to wrest control of the massive southern region.

The UN has repeatedly warned the region is in danger of witnessing a repeat of the atrocities that unfolded in North Darfur state capital El-Fasher, including mass killing, abductions and sexual violence.


Iraq's Election Result Ratified by Supreme Federal Court as Premiership Remains up for Grabs

Election workers gather parliamentary election ballots after the polls closed in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
Election workers gather parliamentary election ballots after the polls closed in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
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Iraq's Election Result Ratified by Supreme Federal Court as Premiership Remains up for Grabs

Election workers gather parliamentary election ballots after the polls closed in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
Election workers gather parliamentary election ballots after the polls closed in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

The result of last month’s parliamentary elections in Iraq was ratified by the Supreme Federal Court on Sunday, confirming that the party of caretaker prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani won the largest number of seats — but not enough to assure him a second term.

The court confirmed that the voting process met all constitutional and legal requirements and had no irregularities affecting its validity.

The Independent High Electoral Commission submitted the final results of the legislative elections to the Supreme Federal Court on Monday for official certification after resolving 853 complaints submitted regarding the election results, according to The AP news.

Al-Sudani's Reconstruction and Development Coalition won 46 seats in the 329-seat parliament. However, in past elections in Iraq, the bloc taking the largest number of seats has often been unable to impose its preferred candidate.

The coalition led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki won 29 seats, the Sadiqoun Bloc, which is led by the leader of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, Qais al-Khazali, won 28 seats, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by Masoud Barzani, one of the two main Kurdish parties in the country, won 27 seats.

The Taqaddum (Progress) party of ousted former Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi also won 27 seats, setting the stage for a contest over the speaker's role.

 


Hamas Confirms the Death of a Top Commander in Gaza after Israeli Strike

Destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 18, 2025. (Reuters)
Destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 18, 2025. (Reuters)
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Hamas Confirms the Death of a Top Commander in Gaza after Israeli Strike

Destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 18, 2025. (Reuters)
Destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 18, 2025. (Reuters)

Hamas on Sunday confirmed the death of a top commander in Gaza, a day after Israel said it had killed Raed Saad in a strike outside Gaza City.

The Hamas statement described Saad as the commander of its military manufacturing unit. Israel had described him as an architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war in Gaza, and asserted that he had been “engaged in rebuilding the terrorist organization” in a violation of the ceasefire that took effect two months ago, The AP news reported.

Israel said it killed Saad after an explosive device detonated and wounded two soldiers in the territory’s south.

Hamas also said it had named a new commander but did not give details.

Saturday's strike west of Gaza City killed four people, according to an Associated Press journalist who saw their bodies arrive at Shifa Hospital. Another three were wounded, according to Al-Awda hospital. Hamas in its initial statement described the vehicle struck as a civilian one.

Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of truce violations.

Israeli airstrikes and shootings in Gaza have killed at least 391 Palestinians since the ceasefire took hold, according to Palestinian health officials. Israel has said recent strikes are in retaliation for militant attacks against its soldiers, and that troops have fired on Palestinians who approached the “Yellow Line” between the Israeli-controlled majority of Gaza and the rest of the territory.

Israel has demanded that Palestinian militants return the remains of the final hostage, Ran Gvili, from Gaza and called it a condition of moving to the second and more complicated phase of the ceasefire. That lays out a vision for ending Hamas’ rule and seeing the rebuilding of a demilitarized Gaza under international supervision.

Israel’s two-year campaign in Gaza has killed more than 70,660 Palestinians, roughly half of them women and children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count. The ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.