By Adham Kako

ANKARA

The Syrian regime dropped thousands of internationally-banned barrel bombs in 2018, causing numerous civilian casualties in opposition-held parts of the country, a U.K.-based rights watchdog said Tuesday.

According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), as many as 185 civilians -- including 51 children and 55 women -- were killed by barrel bombs last year alone.

Frequently used in civilian communities, barrel bombs -- which can raze areas of between 50 and 200 square meters -- have been used by the regime roughly 26,000 times since September 2015, the SNHR claims.