Syrian regime kills 72, activists say
At least 72 people, including 12 children and 7 women, were killed in attacks staged by the Syrian regime in several cities on Thursday, activists said.
12 children and 7 women are among the casualties, as the death toll among children exceeds 12,000 since March 2011. Syrian regime forces killed 26 in Homs, 13 in the suburbs of Damascus and Aleppo each, 6 in Haseke, 5 in each Daraa and Idlib, 3 in Hama, one in Deir-uz Zor, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said. The Syrian Revolution General Commission (SRGC) released a statement indicating that Free Syrian Army troops attacked Zamalka district of Damascus and neutralized many regime soldiers. Regime forces also attacked the Haresta, Douma, Dariya, Berze, Yarmouk, and Kabun regions of capital Damascus, an area where opposition fighters are generally located, with missiles and howitzers, SRGC added. Meanwhile, the SNHR said that the death toll among children had exceeded 12,000 since clashes broke out in Syria in March, 2011. More than 100,000 people have been killed in almost three years of conflict in Syria and over two million Syrians are now registered as refugees in neighboring countries, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq, according to the UN. The Microfinance Program Director at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Alex Pollock, said last week that the total cost of Syria crisis had reached $103.1 billion by the first half of 2013.
