Russian strikes blamed for 400 Syrian civilian deaths

Russian air strikes in Syria have killed over 400 civilians since September this year, monitoring groups say.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the death toll from September 30 – when the strikes were launched – until November 20 stood at 403 civilians, a figure that includes 97 children.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), another monitoring group, said at least 526 were killed, including 137 children, since Russia launched its first air strikes.

On Sunday, government air strikes killed at least seven people, including three children, in Douma just outside of the capital Damascus, SOHR said.

At least seven civilians were killed in government air strikes in Aleppo on Saturday, SOHR added.

On Friday, Russia fired cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea for a fourth day against what it described as ISIL targets.

Russian and Syrian officials said their jets hit 50 ISIL targets in Deir Az Zor province, the most intense air raids since Russia began its air strikes.

Since last October, at least 42,234 air strikes that targeted farms, villages, towns and cities have been documented, according to SOHR.

It said over 22,370 so-called barrel bombs were dropped across the country in that period resulting in a total of 6,889 civilians deaths, including 1,436 children.

Another 35,000 civilians have been injured.

At least 100,000 people fled from Aleppo due to Russian air strikes, SNHR said, while another 1,000 fled a camp for the displaced in Atma, in Idlib city’s suburbs.

Russia says the goal of its military operation in Syria is in response to a request by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and on the basis of a decision granted by its parliament.

The Syrian conflict has killed at least 250,000 people, according to the UN, and more than half of Syria’s pre-war population of 22.4 million has been internally displaced or fled abroad.