More than 11,000 boys and girls have been killed in the nearly three-year civil war in Syria, according to a report from the Oxford Research Group.
Most of the 11,420 children reported dead were killed in explosions, and many others were shot to death, CNN reported.
“What is most disturbing about the findings of this report is not only the sheer numbers of children killed in this conflict, but the way they are being killed,” the report’s co-author, Hana Salama, said in a statement.
In June, Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said, “There are … well-documented cases of individual children being tortured and executed, and entire families, including babies, being massacred,” CNN reported.
Both regime and rebel fighters have been blamed for targeting civilians in the region. The report’s authors called for them to stop using explosives in places that children frequent, CNN said.
The overall death toll topped 100,000 in late July, the U.N. announced.
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• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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