More than 7,000 people detained in Syria last year: NGO

By Adham Kako

ANKARA (AA) – More than 7,000 people were arbitrarily detained across war-torn Syria during 2018, mostly by the Assad regime, a human rights group said Thursday.

In a statement, the London-based Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said that 7,706 had been detained, including 504 children and 699 women.

Of these, 5,607 were detained by the Assad regime, including 355 children and 596 women.

Most of the individuals were detained in regime-held areas, the SNHR said.

According to the statement, 965 people -- including 83 children and 74 women -- were detained by the YPG/PKK terrorist group.

The SNHR went on to note that at least 338 people, including 13 children and 338 women, had been detained by the Daesh terrorist group.

The NGO estimated the number of people currently held in regime prisons at no less than 500,000.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected severity.