Doctors and medical staff treating injured rebel fighters and civilians in Aleppo
Estimates of the total number of deaths in theSyrian Civil War, by various war monitors, range between 580,000 as of May 2021,[1] and approximately 656,493 as of March 2025.[2] In late September 2021, theUnited Nations stated it had documented the deaths of at least 350,209 "identified individuals" in the conflict between March 2011 and March 2021, but cautioned the figure was "certainly an under-count" that specified only a "minimum verifiable number".[3][4][5]
The most violent year of the conflict was 2014, when around 110,000 people were killed.[6] In April 2016, UN envoy to SyriaStaffan de Mistura stated that more than 400,000 people were killed in the Syrian civil war.[7] By mid-March 2025, opposition activist group theSyrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported the number of children killed in the conflict had risen to 26,282, and that 16,181 women had also been killed.[2]
As of February 2015, theUNHCR has designated the conflict as the "world's worst humanitarian crisis", while the head of theUNHRC'scommission for Syria stated that the Ba'athist government was responsible for the majority of civilian casualties up to that point.[10] TheSyrian Network for Human Rights estimated that between 2011 and 2024, the Ba'athist government and its foreign allies were responsible for approximately 91% of the total civilian casualties.[11][12][13]
Total deaths over the course of the conflict in Syria (18 March 2011 – 18 October 2013)Weekly deaths over the course of the conflict in Syria (18 March 2011 – 18 October 2013)
All of the following totals include civilians, rebels and government forces:
The following figures were all compiled by the SOHR which is considered an authoritative source on the matter.[15] The figures are only for documented deaths, while the SOHR estimates another 110,343 undocumented deaths had occurred.[2]
The following breakdown of combatant fatalities does not include 36,957 pro-government and 25,955 anti-government fighters who were killed sometime between 2011 and 2020, but whose deaths were only documented by the SOHR in 2021.[22]
According to the Syrian opposition websiteSyrian Martyrs, the conflict's documented death toll was 151,888 up to 30 April 2016, which was the time of its last update.[26] The number includes 35,859 rebel combatants but does not include members of the government security forces or pro-government foreign combatants who have died.[27] Early in the conflict, theSyrian Martyrs number of civilian deaths was significantly higher than the ones presented by other organisations, including the UN; among the reasons are that they recorded deaths even when no name is given for the reportedly killed individual and that they collated reports of deaths from more sources.[28]
In May 2013, SOHR stated that at least 41,000 of those killed during the conflict wereAlawites.[29] By April 2015, reportedly a third of the country's 250,000 Alawites that were of fighting age had been killed.[30] In April 2017, a pro-opposition source claimed 150,000 young Alawites had died.[31]
TheSyrian Network for Human Rights has stated it had documented 231,108 civilian deaths and 14 million displaced between March 2011 and August 2024.[32]
Perpetrator
Numbers of civilians killed
Men
Women
Children
Syrian government forces
202,021
166,241
12,003
23,138
Russian forces
6,969
3,931
983
2,055
Islamic State
5,058
3,512
587
959
Other unnamed parties
8,820
5,837
1,094
1,889
Syrian National Army / Armed Opposition
4,234
2,339
886
1,009
U.S.-led CJTF coalition forces
3,055
1,471
658
926
Syrian Democratic Forces
1,516
1,070
177
259
Hayat Tahrir al Sham
549
391
82
76
Turkistan Islamic Party
4
4
0
0
Total
232,195
181,540
16,319
30,228
According to the pro-oppositionSyrian Observatory for Human Rights, 199,068 civilians had been killed between March 2011 and March 2025. This number does not include an estimated 26,000 civilians killed in government prisons.[2]
Causes
Number of killed civilians
Syrian government forces & allied militias
157,622
Russian forces
8,808
Explosions
5,614
Islamic State
4,935
Various attacks
3,991
Unknown circumstances
3,023
International Coalition forces
2,679
Uncertain as to Russian or Syrian Arab Air Force
2,504
Opposition factions
2,459
Field executions
2,284
Turkish forces
1,155
Prohibited weapons
1,028
Poor living conditions
994
Jihadists
927
Syrian Democratic forces
516
Others
298
Israeli forces
112
Military Operations Administration
109
Jordanian Armed Forces
9
TOTAL
199,068
According to the Violations Documentation Center in Syria, 135,501 civilians had been killed until June 2020.[33]
Perpetrator
Number of killed civilians
Syrian government forces
111,016
Russian forces
6,861
Islamic State
4,969
Other
4,876
Opposition forces (incl. FSA and Islamists)
3,097
International coalition forces
2,778
Turkish forces
1,088
Syrian Democratic Forces
576
Other jihadist factions
162
TOTAL
131,750
According to theStatista Research Department, at least 207,000 civilians had been killed by March 2023,[34] including about 25,000 children.[35]
At the start of the war, Al Jazeera journalistNir Rosen stated that many of the deaths reported daily by activists were in fact armed insurgents falsely presented as civilian deaths, but said that real civilian deaths do occur on a regular basis.[36] Several Middle East analysts, including Sharmine Narwani from the LebaneseAl Akhbar newspaper and the UAE/SaudiAl Arabiya website, also urged caution.[37][38]
This was later confirmed when in late May 2012, Rami Abdulrahman of theSyrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is one of the pro-opposition monitor groups counting the number of those killed in the uprising, stated that civilians who had taken up arms during the earliest days of the conflict were being counted under the category of "civilians" as they were not army nor army defectors.[39][40][41]
The non-Syrian militiamen fatalities figure includes: over 2,000Afghans,[44] at least 1,308Iraqi Shia militiamen,[45] 561–620Iranians,[46][47] 158 Pakistanis,[48] one Lebanese member of theSSNP,[49] one member of the LebaneseAmal Movement[50] and a Saudi Shiite fighter.[51] Other sources put the overall number of killed Iranian-lead forces, which also includes the Afghan and Pakistani militias,[52] at between 2,500 and 3,500 by the end of August 2017.[53][54] Also, 1,878 Palestinian militiamen have been killed, according to thePFLP–GC, and these include: 1,100Liwa Al-Quds fighters, 420 PFLP–GC members, 285 members of thePLA, 42 who belonged toFatah al-Intifada, 11PPSF members, 10 Al Saeka Brigade fighters and 10Free Palestine Movement members.[55][56] Additionally, theAction Group For Palestinians of Syria reported 21Galilee Forces fighters had been killed and put the number of dead Free Palestine Movement members higher at 24.[57] 17 PLA soldiers were also missing.[58]
Except one death (August 2011),[59] all of the Hezbollah fatalities have occurred since September 2012.[60]
Between October 2015 and December 2017, it was reported that 150–200 Russiansecurity contractors had been killed.[61][62] According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 273 Russianmercenaries were killed in the conflict.[2]
In addition, 1,000 civilian government officials were also killed by November 2012.[63]
Due to the main opposition monitor SOHR's policy early in the conflict of counting rebel fighters that were not defectors as civilians,[39][40][41][64] a comprehensive number of rebels killed in the conflict, thus far, has not been ascertained. In late November 2012, SOHR estimated that at least 10,000 rebels had been killed, but noted the possibility of the figure being higher because the rebels, like the government, were lying about how many of their forces had died to make it look like they were winning.[65] In March 2013, SOHR stated that the actual number of killed rebels and government forces could be double the number they were already able to document.[66]
10,907 foreign pro-government fighters have been killed by mid-March 2024, according to the SOHR, including 1,782 Lebanese Hezbollah, 8,852 Non-Syrian militiamen backed by Iran and Russia and 273 Russian-backed non-Syrian mercenaries.[2][70]
9,936 foreign opposition fighters were killed by late December 2013, according to theJihadist Salafist Movement in Jordan, with the nationalities being as follows: 1,902 Tunisians, 1,807 Libyans, 1,432 Iraqis, 828 Lebanese, 821 Egyptians, 800 Palestinians, 714 Saudis, 571 Yemenis, 412 Moroccans, 274 Algerians, 202 Jordanians, 91 Omanis, 71 Kuwaitis, 42 Somalis, 30 Albanians and Caucasians, 21 Bahrainis, 9 Emiratis, 8 Qataris, 3 Sudanese and 1 Mauritanian.[97] The London-basedEuropean Centre for Syria Research put the number of Saudis killed even higher at 729 a month earlier in November 2013, out of 6,113 foreign fighters reported killed by then.[98] The jihadist movement updated the number of Jordanians killed by late May 2014 to 342,[99] although they put the figure in late October at over 250.[100] According to another estimate, the Jordanian toll was at least 500 by July 2016.[101]
According to a report by a Syrian military research center, as of September 2014: 3,872 Saudi, 3,691 Chechen and 2,904 Lebanese fighters had been killed. Another 2,689 Saudi fighters were missing.[104]
In mid-May 2015, at least 70 Lebanese fighters were reported killed in the previous several months.[105] In late December 2015, Tunis stated 800 Tunisian ISIL fighters had been killed since the start of the war.[106]
615–672 foreign soldiers have been killed during the conflict, mostly by military involvement from their countries and in the border areas with Syria.
16 Iraqi servicemen killed
On 2 March 2013, one Iraqi soldier was killed during clashes between Syrian rebels and government forces at a Syrian-Iraqi border crossing.[158] On 4 March 2013, 13 Iraqi soldiers were killed by unknown gunmen near the border with Syria while they were transporting 65 Syrian soldiers and government officials back to their country after they had retreated to Iraq a few days earlier. 48 of the Syrians were also killed in the attack.[159][160] On 9 June 2013, Syrian rebels attacked a southern Iraqi border post, killing one Iraqi guard and wounding two.[161] On 14 July 2013, another attack by fighters from the Syrian side of the border left one Iraqi policeman dead and five others wounded.[162]
8 Jordanian servicemen killed
A Jordanian soldier was killed in clashes with armed militants who were attempting to cross the border from Jordan into Syria on 22 October 2012.[163] On 3 January 2015, ISIL burned a Jordanian military pilot alive in a metal cage. The pilot was captured after his airplane crashed nearRaqqa while conducting air-strikes.[164] Six Jordanian soldiers were killed by a car-bomb blast near the Syrian refugee camp of al-Rukban on 21 June 2016.[165]
60 Lebanese servicemen killed
On 1 February 2013, two Lebanese soldiers were killed, along with 1-2 militants, and six were wounded in clashes near the Syrian border which started after an attempt by the military to arrest an anti-Assad rebel commander, who was also killed.[166][167][168] On 28 May 2013, three Lebanese soldiers were killed in an attack on their checkpoint near the border town of Arsal by unknown militants who then fled over the border into Syria.[169] On 29 March 2014, three soldiers were killed and four wounded in a suicide bomb attack on their checkpoint near Arsal.[170] 20 soldiers were killed during theBattle of Arsal against Syrian and other foreign jihadists and a further 13 were captured and subsequently executed. On 19 September, two soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb near Arsal.[171] On 2 December, six soldiers were killed and one wounded in an ambush by unknown gunmen in the Tal Hamra area of Ras Baalbek, near the border with Syria.[172] On 23 January 2015, eight soldiers were killed and 22 wounded near Ras Baalbek after their outpost near the border was attacked by ISIL. The fighting also left more than 40 militants dead.[173] Three soldiers were also killed duringan offensive against ISIL in the border area in August 2017.[174]
Following the start ofRussia's intervention in Syria against rebel and ISIL forces at the end of September 2015, 116 soldiers had died by 23 February 2019.[175] Among them, was a Russian military co-pilot who was killed when his Su-24 military plane was shot down near the Turkish-Syrian border by the Turkish military on 24 November 2015. His pilot was later recovered alive and well by Russian and Syrian special forces. Additionally, a Russian marine was killed when his military rescue helicopter was shot down by rebels while searching for the downed plane's pilots.[176] Almost half of the deaths were attributed to the crash of anAn-26 on approach to Khmeimim air base in Latakia, and the accidental shooting down of a reconnaissance plane by Syrian air-defenses.[177] On 18 August 2020, Maj. Gen. Vyacheslav Gladkikh was killed by an improvised explosive device planted on a side road near Deir ez-Zor.[178] Following theFall of the Assad regime,BBC News Russian confirmed by names the deaths of 190 servicemen of the regular Russian Armed Forces and seven officers of the RussianFederal Security Service (FSB) during the conflict.[179]
Two members of the Turkish Air Force were killed when their F-4 Phantom II military jet was shot down near the Turkish-Syrian border by the Syrian Army on 22 June 2012.[180] On 2 May 2013, one Turkish border guard policeman was killed in a clash with smugglers or rebel fighters on the border between Turkey and Syria. According to the opposition, two rebels were killed as well.[181] Throughout 2014, seven soldiers and a policeman were killed along the border with Syria in shootouts with foreign jihadists, Kurdish fighters and other unknown gunmen.[182][183][184] On 22 February 2015, a soldier was killed in an accident during a military incursion into Syria to evacuate Turkish troops at theTomb of Suleyman Shah.[185] Later, in two incidents in July and September, two soldiers were killed and five wounded by cross-border fire from ISIL territory in Syria.[186][187] On 15 February 2016, a soldier died at the border during clashes against human smugglers that tried to cross the border illegally.[188] Two Turkish soldiers died in a suicide bombing at a Syrian border crossing in mid-August.[189]
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented the deaths of 269 Turkish soldiers in Syria by 15 March 2025.[2]
In early October 2023, clashes between Turkish and pro-Turkish forces on one side and Kurdish forces on the other in northern Syria left eight Turkish soldiers dead.[197]
French serviceman killed
TheÉlysée Palace announced in September 2017 that a French servicemen of the 13th regiment of paratroopers died in the Levant region during Operation Chammal. It was not known where the precise location of the soldier's death.[198]
British serviceman killed
A British soldier, named as Sgt Matt Tunroe of the 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment died on 30 March 2018 inManbij. This was initially reported as an IED explosion from which a U.S. soldier had also been killed from.[199] However, the Ministry of Defence later clarified it was a case offriendly fire, caused by the accidental detonation of explosives carried by another coalition soldier.[200]
13 American servicemen killed
A U.S. pilot was killed on 30 November 2014, when hisF-16 fighter aircraft crashed in Jordan.[201] Also, a U.S. special forces member died due to a IED explosion.[202] Two other service members died due to non-combat causes in northern Syria in 2017.[203] A US serviceman died on 30 March 2018 by an IED explosion in Manbij.[199] Four Americans, including two soldiers, were killed by a bombing in Manbij city on 16 January 2019.[204][205] One American soldier was killed on 28 April 2019,[206] possibly due to Turkish shelling.[207] Another US soldier died in Syria on January 24, 2020, following a rollover crash in Deir ez-Zor province.[208] On 22 July 2020, a US serviceman died in a mishap[209] involving a vehicle overturn in Al-Hasakah.[210] In January 2024, the US Central Command acknowledged of the death of three US soldiers and injury of 25 others in an attack by a drone on Al-Tanf garrison near the border triangle between Syria, Iraq and Jordan.[211]
According to the SOHR, U.S.-led Coalition airstrikes have killed 12,868 people across Syria, of which: 9,176 dead were ISIL fighters, 374 Al-Nusra Front militants and other rebels, 169 government soldiers and 2,679 civilians. The air strikes occurred in the period between 23 September 2014 and 15 March 2024.[212][2]
According to the SOHR, Russian airstrikes in Syria killed more than 21,300 people, of whom 6,244 were ISIL fighters, 6,303 militants from the Al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front and other rebel forces, 8,816 civilians and at least five Turkish soldiers. The air strikes occurred in the period between 30 September 2015 and 30 December 2024.[213][214] TheNew York Times accused the Russian air force of specifically focusing on attacking civilian hospitals and other medical facilities, including hospitals on so-called "deconfliction list".[215][216]
According to Airwars, a not-for-profit transparency project aimed both at tracking and archiving international military actions in conflict zones such as Iraq, Syria and Libya, Russian airstrikes have killed 4,398–6,505 civilians[217][218]
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, since the start of Russia's aerial campaign in Syria and by 20 October 2018, the Russian Air Force killed more than 87,500 rebels and ISIL fighters.[219]
According to the SOHR, more than 500 people were killed during Israeli air attacks in Syria between January 2018 and September 2020, including: 228 Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian militiamen, 171 Iranian soldiers, 98 Syrian government fighters[220] and 13 civilians were killed by Israel Armed Forces.[221]
According to the SOHR, 119 people were killed during Israeli air attacks in Syria between January and November 3, 2021, including: 38 Syrian soldiers and militiamen, 24 Iraqi militiamen, 17 Afghan militiamen, five Pakistani militiamen, 21 other pro-Iranian foreign militiamen and five civilians.[222]
According to the SOHR, 90 people were killed during Israeli air attacks in Syria between January and December 2022, including: 36 military officers and members of the military's air defences, 11 Iranian-backed Syrian militiamen, 29 Iranian-backed non-Syrian militiamen, 11 Syrian and non-Syrian militiamen working for the Lebanese Hezbollah and one civilian.[223]
According to the SOHR, between January and December 2023, Israeli airstrikes killed 40 Syrian soldiers, 35 Iranian-backed non-Syrian militiamen, six Iranian servicemen, seven Iranian-backed Syrian militiamen, 20 members of Hezbollah, two members of “Al-Jihad Al-Islami” and four civilians.[224]
According to the SOHR, between January and December 2024, Israeli airstrikes killed 64 Syrian soldiers, 41 Iranian-backed non-Syrian militiamen, 25 Iranian servicemen, 162 Iranian-backed Syrian militiamen, 59 members of Hezbollah, 57 Iraqis, six unidentified persons and 68 civilians.[225]
According to the SOHR, between January and September 2025, Israeli airstrikes and rocket attacks by ground forces killed 30 members of the Military Operations Administration, 17 civilians, five unidentified persons (including two persons of Lebanese nationalities) and nine armed civilians.[226]
In summary, between January 2018 and July 2025, Israeli Armed Forces killed 276 pro-Assad Syrian Armed Forces, 30 members of the Military Operations Administration, 758 Hizbollah, Iranian-backed syrian and non-syrian fighters, 2 Jihadists, 9 armed civilians, 11 unidentified persons and 108 civilians.
Killings of medical workers since the start of the Syrian Civil War, according to aPHR summary[227]
Attacks by government forces (95.5%)
ISIL or rebel groups (2.50%)
Kurdish forces (0.10%)
Unknown forces (1.90%)
A February 2015 joint report by the Center for Public Health and Human Rights of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Syrian American Medical Society asserted that "Syria is the most dangerous place in the world to be a doctor".[228] Roughly half (an estimated 15,000)[229] of Syrian doctors fled the country.[230] The government passed a law in 2012 making it illegal to render medical aid to anyone suspected to be an opposition member andAmnesty International found that doctors and medical staff also took part intorture of patients.[229]
Physicians for Human Rights has been tracking the medical personnel deaths in Syria, though they state that "these numbers are conservative given the difficulties in reporting during a war." As of the end of September 2015, the number of medical workers killed in the Syrian civil war totaled 679.[231] In March 2017, the number of killed medical personnel was updated to more than 800. 723 of these deaths were attributable to the Syrian government, while 72 were killed by ISIL or rebel groups, one by Kurdish forces, and 13 by unidentified forces.[232] Towards the end of May 2020, theSNHR put the death toll at 855 medical personnel, of which 669 were killed by government forces, 68 by the Russian military, 40 by ISIL, and 36 by the rebels.[233]
Médecins Sans Frontières has reported that suppliers in Syria refuse to sell essential medical supplies such as gauze and surgical threads to doctors due to government intimidation, with this being a particular problem for besieged areas.[229]
^"The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has documented by names the death of 507,567 people since the outbreak of the Syrian Revolution out of an overall death toll of 617,910 people whose death has been verified by SOHR in the past 13 years." Source:[1]
^"Conflict in Syria".Council on Foreign Relations. 17 October 2023. Archived fromthe original on 6 December 2023.According to estimates from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 600,000 people have been killed since the start of the war.
^abcdMid-December 2014, the SOHR estimated 35,000 Syrian Army and 14,000 pro-gov. militia fatalities remained undocumented.[7] Subsequently, by June 2021, the SOHR managed to document 22,597 Syrian Army and 14,360 pro-gov. militia fatalities that were previously undocumented,[8] leaving 12,403 Syrian Army fatalities still undocumented. Taking into account SOHR estimated 54,000 combatant deaths remained undocumented as of mid-March 2023,[9] 41,597 of these could be assumed to be anti-gov. fighters.
^900 went to Syria and Iraq, of which 300 were killed in Iraq and 280 were arrested or stripped of citizenship,[30]Archived 2017-09-25 at theWayback Machine with most of the remainder (320) killed in Syria[31]Archived 2017-09-25 at theWayback Machine
^"Farsnews".Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved12 April 2016.
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