BEIRUT: Syria'snearly eight-year-old conflict saw its lowest annual death toll in 2018 as theregime reasserted its authority over swathes of territory, a war monitor saidyesterday. A total of 19,666 people were killed this year as a result of theconflict, which erupted in 2011, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rightsmonitoring group reported. "2018 was the lowest annual toll since thestart of the conflict," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
The Britain-basedmonitor relies on a vast network of sources across Syria to document the warthat broke out after the brutal repression of nationwide anti-regime protestsin 2011. The death toll for 2017 stood at more than 33,000 and the highestannual figure was reached in 2014 -- the year the Islamic State jihadist groupproclaimed a "caliphate" over large parts of Syria and neighboringIraq -- when 76,000 people were killed. Among those killed in 2018 were 6,349civilians, 1,437 of them children, Abdel Rahman said.
Eastern Ghouta
"Most ofthose killed during the first part of the year were killed in regime andRussian bombardment of opposition areas, including Eastern Ghouta," AbdelRahman said. "The majority of those killed in the second half of the yearwere killed in coalition air strikes," he added. The first months of 2018were marked by major Russian-backed government operations to retake rebel andjihadist bastions in and around the capital Damascus.
The bloodiest ofthem was an assault on Eastern Ghouta, a densely-populated area east ofDamascus that remained besieged for years. The most active front of the pastfew months has been the battle against the remnants of the Islamic State groupin eastern Syria. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by aUS-led coalition carrying out air strikes, launched an offensive on September10. Jihadist fighters defending the last rump of their once sprawlingproto-state, near the Iraqi border along the Euphrates River, have put upfierce resistance but seem close to collapsing. While fighting has ended or iswinding down in several parts of the country, 2019 could see its share ofmilitary flare-ups.
ThreatenedTurkish offensive
Besides thecontinued threat posed by IS sleeper cells even after it loses its last pocketin eastern Syria, two other areas remain of concern. Turkey has threatened amajor offensive against the Kurdish militia that controls regions along itsborder in northeastern Syria. The announcement made by Donald Trump two weeksago that he had ordered a full troop pullout from Syria left the US-ledcoalition's Kurdish allies more exposed.
Thousands ofrebel fighters and jihadists also remain in Idlib, a northern province wheremany of them were transferred as a result of deals to end government assaultson other areas across the country. Under an agreement reached in Russia, Turkeywas tasked with disarming some of the groups active in Idlib but littleprogress has been achieved. President Bashar Al-Assad has consistently saidthat his forces would seek to re-conquer the entire Syrian territory. Accordingto the Observatory, the government and its allies now controls 60.2 percent ofSyrian territory, while the SDF hold 28.8 percent.
The Kurds lastweek asked for the regime's help against the threat of a Turkish offensive, amove that will put pay to their ambitions of increased autonomy. By comparison,the US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project puts the number ofconflict-related deaths in Afghanistan at more than 40,000 this year.
IS arrests
In related news,Iraq sentenced more than 600 foreigners including many women and dozens ofminors in 2018 for belonging to the Islamic State group, the judiciary saidyesterday. Iraq declared "victory" over IS at the end of 2017 after athree-year war against the jihadists, who once controlled nearly a third of thecountry as well as swathes of neighboring Syria.
Around 20,000people suspected of links to IS have been arrested since 2014. Judicial spokesmanAbdel Sattar Bayraqdar said yesterday that "616 men and women accused ofbelonging to IS have been put on trial" in 2018 and sentenced under Iraq'santi-terrorism law. They comprised 466 women, 42 men and 108 minors, he said.Bayraqdar did not, however specify the punishments. Under Iraq's anti-terrorismlaw courts can issue verdicts, including death sentences, against anyone foundguilty of belonging to the jihadist group, including non-combatants.
In April,judicial sources said that more than 300 suspects linked to IS had receiveddeath sentences and more than 300 others were sentenced to life, which in Iraqis equivalent to 20 years. Most of the women sentenced for IS links were fromTurkey and republics of the former Soviet Union. Three French citizens -- twowomen and a man -- have been sentenced to life imprisonment while a Germanwoman, a Belgian man and a Russian man have been sentenced to death. Many womenhad travelled to Iraq with their children to join their husbands who fought inthe ranks of IS. Some are still waiting to be repatriated to their homecountries. - AFP