The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) confirmed that the number of victims of violence and the prevailing security situation in Syria has decreased since the beginning of this year compared to previous years, thus presenting a composite picture of the security scene in the country, where patterns of violence and violations are still continuing, which makes this decline closer to a "relative calm" that does not reflect real stability on the ground.
In its semi-annual report, published on Wednesday, July 1, the network announced the documentation of the deaths of at least 428 civilians, including 80 children and 33 women, in addition to 8 medical staff and 2 media personnel during the first half of 2026, stressing at the same time that this toll represents the minimum number of cases that it was able to document and verify according to its methodology, and does not necessarily reflect the full size of all incidents of unlawful killings or civilian deaths related to violence during the Period Covered.
Bullets of unknown origin kill 202 people
The network revealed that the monthly numbers of victims of violence witnessed a downward curve in the number of victims: 111 victims in January, then 96 in February, and 61 in March, before the toll rose slightly in April to 75 victims, then fell again to 44 in May and 41 in June, explaining that this gradual decline reflects a decrease in the pace of direct violence, but does not eliminate the continuing daily risks that threaten the lives of civilians in large areas of the country.
Mines and remnants of war were the biggest cause of casualties, as 59 civilians, including 24 children, were killed, mostly in agricultural and rural areas, the network data showed, stressing that explosions of unknown origin caused the death of 50 civilians, including 21 children, while 35 civilians were killed by unidentified individuals.
Bullets of unknown origin outnumbered other causes of unlawful killing, with 202 victims, including 14 children and 19 women, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, which is based in the British capital.
SDF forces kill 57 people
The responsibilities were distributed among several parties of the Syrian Democratic Forces, causing the death of 57 civilians, including 5 children and two women, in addition to one victim due to torture, and 12 people at the hands of government forces, while 9 civilians were killed in the category of "remnants of the Assad regime", 3 victims were recorded at the hands of ISIS, and one victim as a result of Israeli targeting.
Aleppo topped the list of victims with 81 cases, followed by Hama with 67, Homs with 63, Idlib with 53, and Raqqa with 51, which are still witnessing the activity of armed groups or the spread of remnants of war, in addition to incidents of local violence and security chaos.
34 children killed in 3 months
The network said that children constituted 23% of the total victims during the second quarter of this year, as 34 children were killed in just three months, most of them due to mines, explosions and bullets of unknown origin, and the network also documented 7 attacks on vital civilian centers during the second quarter, all of which were attributed to the Israeli occupation forces in the governorates of Daraa and Quneitra, while the number of attacks during the first half reached 24 incidents affecting educational, medical and religious facilities.
Despite this relative decline in the number of victims, the country still lives in a "fragile" security reality in which mines , bombings, assassinations and external strikes intersect, making the protection of civilians an urgent task that requires extensive efforts at the local and international levels, according to the network.
Tens of thousands of forcibly disappeared
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documented at least 181,677 people, including 5,352 children and 9,213 women, among those who were effectively detained, forcibly disappeared, and people whose fate or whereabouts remain unknown to parties to the conflict in Syria from March 2011 to June 2026.
The number of forcibly disappeared people, including 4,536 children and 8,984 women, according to the network, included at least 177,021 people, including 4,536 children and 8,984 women.
At least 45,364 people have been documented dying as a result of torture or cruel or inhumane conditions of detention during the same period, including 231 children and 116 women.
It noted that 45,038 victims died inside the detention centers of the former regime, with a rate of about 99%, while 326 cases were distributed to the rest of the parties to the conflict according to the classification adopted in the network's database.
Al-Shabaka calls for increased funding for demining
The network condemned the Israeli occupation forces and called on them to stop military operations in the southern Syrian territories, respect Syria's sovereignty, and take the necessary measures to hold its members accountable and protect civilians and civilian objects.
It called on humanitarian organizations and donors to expand mine and remnants of war risk awareness programmes, support the medical response, and integrate mine clearance and remnants of war activities into the humanitarian response.
In parallel, the Network called on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to support capacity-building for the Syrian authorities to investigate cases of arbitrary deprivation of life in accordance with international standards, in particular the Minnesota Protocol, and to call on the international community to increase international funding for demining and support independent investigations.
Who is SNHR?
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) is one of the independent human rights organizations working to document violations in Syria since its establishment in June 2011, as it has become an important reference for international bodies in the files of victims and detainees, including the United Nations Secretariat, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the International Neutral and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), which relies extensively on its data and periodic reports.
The network is based in the British capital, London, where it is registered as an independent international non-governmental organization, while in addition to its headquarters, it manages administrative and legal coordination offices in several countries, most notably France, Qatar, and Turkey. The network relies on a wide network of field researchers spread within the Syrian governorates, some of whom work openly and others secretly, with the aim of collecting testimonies and data and documenting violations directly from the ground, according to a rigorous verification methodology adopted by the organization since its establishment.
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