On Monday, February 5th 2018, air strikes on areas of Eastern Ghouta, just outside the Syrian capital Damascus, killed at least 23, with a further 70 wounded.
At least nine of the dead, including two children, were killed in an air raid on a market in the town of Beit Sawa.
The strikes were thought to have been carried out by Syrian and Russian forces.
Syrian state media also reported shelling on government-held Damascus, killing one woman and wounding three other civilians.
Our latest data shows that in the first 11 months of 2017 there was a 42% increase in civilian deaths from explosive violence globally, compared to the same period in 2016.
Of the total civilian deaths recorded (15,399), 58% were caused by airstrikes, mainly in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Civilian deaths from airstrikes in this 11-month period was 8,932 – an increase of 82% compared to the same period in 2016 when 4,902 civilians were killed, or 1,169% compared to 2011, when 704 died.
Syria was the worst impacted country and civilian deaths in Syria increased by 55%, compared to the same period the previous year.
AOAV strongly condemns the use of violence against civilians and calls upon all states and groups to stop using weapons with wide-area impacts in populated areas, due to the severe impact these have on civilians.
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