118 civilians killed in Syria in September: Watchdog

By Adham Kako

ANKARA (AA) – A total of 118 civilians were killed in attacks in war-torn Syria last month, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) on Tuesday.

In a statement, the group said 18 children and 12 women were among the victims.

Forty-four civilians were killed by regime forces and allied militias, while 21 people were tortured to death in regime prisons, the SNHR said.

The network said six civilians were killed in areas occupied by the YPG/PKK terrorist group, one in Russian airstrikes and four in clashes between opposition groups.

The SNHR said 63 civilians were killed but without identifying those responsible.

The watchdog estimates that 2,682 civilians have been killed in Syria since the start of this year.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity, which later developed into bloody clashes and interventions from external forces including the Lebanese Hezbollah group, Iranian militia and many others.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara