ALEPPO, Syria
At least 39 people, including five women and nine children, were killed during operations across Syria on Tuesday, allegedly by forces loyal to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, according to opposition activists.
Air and land operations involving heavy weaponry killed 16 in the suburbs of capital Damascus, five each in Aleppo and Hama, four in Daraa, three in Quneitra, two each in Homs and Idlib, and one each in Deir ez-Zor and Latakia, according to the London-based Syrian Network for Human Rights, which tracks civilian and opposition casualties.
Meanwhile, the Syrian government's official news agency SANA claimed security forces "neutralized" a large number of armed groups during operations in Aleppo, Idlib, Hama and in the suburbs of capital Damascus.
Syria has been gripped by almost constant fighting since the regime launched a violent crackdown in response to anti-government protests in March 2011, triggering a conflict, which has spiralled into a civil war.
The UN has stopped updating its death toll for the country because an official count had become too difficult to verify. At least 100,000 deaths were recorded in the last official count in July 2013.
More than 100,000 people have been killed during the three-year conflict, which has left more than 6.5 million people internally displaced according to the UN. Nearly 2.5 million Syrians are also registered as refugees in neighboring countries, including Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq.
www.aa.com.tr/en
