Reuters on Thursday conveyed estimates from human rights organizations calculating that the death toll in the Syrian conflict had passed 146,000, as the war was set to enter its fourth year this weekend. The figures come a few weeks after Syrian forces fighting on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad regime intensified aerial bombardments across the country’s south.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported in early February that a 24 hour barrel bomb attack, launched as peace talks in Geneva wound down, had killed at least 85 people. Further barrel bomb attacks over the next week would kill at least 246 people, including 73 children. The Syrian army’s use of barrel bombs – shrapnel packed IEDs mostly dropped out of helicopters – had previously drawn censure from Secretary of State John Kerry and celebrations from Iran’s IRGC, the latter hailing the tactic as “the easiest way to send infidels to hell.”

The regime’s targeting of civilians extends beyond indiscriminate bombing. AFP reported at the end of January that the Syrian government had “razed thousands of homes as ‘collective punishment’ of communities” linked to opposition elements.

The group in a report accused Syria’s government of “wiping entire neighbourhoods off the map” using bulldozers and explosives. “These unlawful demolitions are the latest additions to a long list of crimes committed by the Syrian government,” said HRW’s emergencies researcher Ole Solvang.

[Photo:  FreedomHouse / Flickr]