List of massacres during the Syrian civil war

This is a list of massacres committed during the Syrian civil war.

2011 Between 4 and 12 June 2011, during the Jisr Al-Shughur clashes, a massacre against Syrian soldiers and security forces was committed by armed insurgents, with over a hundred dead. They were ambushed, executed, and dumped into a mass grave and were originally believed to have been defectors executed by the Syrian government for refusing to violently crack down on protesters, as reported by anti-Assad activists. This claim was met with skepticism at the time by various observers on Syria until Lebanese-Australian journalist Rania Abouzeid uncovered the truth behind the massacre from local testimonies as being the work of insurgents. Between 31 July and 4 August 2011, during the Siege of Hama, Syrian government forces reportedly killed more than 100 people in an assault on the city of Hama. Opposition activists later raised their estimated civilian death toll to 200 dead.Civilian Toll Is Mounting in Assault on Syrian City , The New York Times. Between 19 and 20 December 2011, a massacre allegedly occurred in the Jabal al-Zawiya mountains of Idlib Governorate. The killings started after a large group of soldiers tried to defect from Army positions over the border to Turkey. Intense clashes between the military and the defectors, who were supported by other rebel fighters, erupted. After two days of fighting, 235 defectors, 100 pro-government soldiers and 120 civilians were killed.

2012 On 27 February 2012, during the 2012 Homs offensive, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 68 bodies were found between the villages of Ram al-Enz and Ghajariyeh and were taken to the central hospital of Homs. The wounds showed that some of the dead were shot while others were killed by cutting weapons. The Rebel Local Coordination Committees reported that 64 dead bodies were found. The rebels claimed that the victims were civilians who tried to flee the battle in Homs and were then killed by a pro-government militia. On 9 March 2012, during the 2012 Homs offensive, 30 tanks of the Syrian Army entered the quarter of Karm al-Zeitoun. After this, it was reported that the Syrian Army had massacred 47 women and children in the district (26 children and 21 women), some of whom had their throats slit, according to activists. The opposition claimed that the main perpetrators behind the killings were the government paramilitary force the Shabiha. On 5 April, the military captured Taftanaz's city center after a two-hour battle, following which the army reportedly carried out a massacre by rounding up and executing people. At least 62 people were killed. It was unknown how many were opposition fighters and how many were civilians.Massacre in Syrian town of Taftanaz, BBC.Syria Crisis: Taftanaz Massacre Haunts Town 2 Month Later , The Huffington Post. On 25 May 2012, the Houla massacre occurred in two opposition-controlled villages in the Houla region of Syria, a cluster of villages north of Homs. According to the United Nations, 108 people were killed, including 34 women and 49 children. UN investigators reported that witnesses and survivors provided two conflicting narratives. The Syrian government alleged that Al-Qaeda terrorist groups were responsible for the killings, and that Houla residents were warned not to speak publicly by opposition forces. On 29 May 2012, a mass execution was discovered near the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor. The unidentified corpses of 13 men had been discovered shot to death execution-style. On 5 June 2012, the rebel Al-Nusra Front claimed responsibility for the killings, stating that they had captured and interrogated the soldiers in Deir ez-Zor and "justly" punished them with death, after they confessed to crimes. On 31 May 2012, there were reports of a massacre in the Syrian village of al-Buwaida al-Sharqiya. According to sources, 13 factory workers were allegedly rounded up and shot dead by pro-government forces. On 6 June 2012, the Al-Qubeir massacre occurred in the small village of Al-Qubeir near Hama. According to preliminary evidence, troops had surrounded the village which was followed by pro-government Shabiha militia entering the village and killing civilians with "barbarity," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the UN Security Council.Gun battles rage in streets of Damascus – Middle East . Al Jazeera English (4 October 2011). Retrieved 10 June 2012. The death toll, according to opposition activists, was estimated to be between 55 and 68. Activists, and witnesses, stated that scores of civilians, including children, had been killed by Shabiha militia and security forces, while the Syrian government said that nine people had been killed by "terrorists". On 23 June 2012, 25 local Shabiha policemen POWs were killed by Syrian rebels in the city of Darat Izza. They were part of a larger group of POWs captured by the rebels. The fate of the others POWs was unknown. Many of the corpses of the shabiha militia killed were in military uniform. Between 20 and 25 August 2012, a massacre was reported in the town of Darayya in the Rif Dimashq province. Between 320 and 500 people were killed in a five-day Army assault on the town, which was rebel-held. At least 18 of the dead were identified as rebels."Final death-toll for Friday 24/8/2012: More than 210 Syrians have been killed on Friday," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (24 August 2012). Retrieved 5 May 2013. According to the opposition, Human Rights Watch and some local residents the killings were committed by the Syrian military and Shabiha militiamen. According to the government and some local residents they were committed by rebel forces. Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate (SAFI) officer Qahtan Khalil later became widely known as the "Butcher of Darayya" for his leadership role in the massacre. In 2021, Khalil and other SAFI officers were sanctioned as Specially Designated Nationals by the United States for their role. Khalil was named head of SAFI in January 2024. Khalil's appointment was controversial due to his role in the massacre. Between 8 and 13 October 2012, during the Battle of Maarrat Al-Nu'man, the Syrian Army was accused by the opposition of executing 65 people, including 50 defecting soldiers. On 11 December 2012, the Aqrab massacre, also known as the Aqrab bombings, occurred in the predominantly Alawite village of Aqrab, Hama Governorate. Between 125 and 200 people were reported killed or wounded, when rebel fighters threw bombs at a building in which hundreds of Alawite civilians, with some pro-government militiamen, were taking refuge from the fighting that had been raging in the town.Up to 200 hurt in attack on Syrian Alawite village – activists . Reuters (6 December 2012).Mackey, Robert. (18 December 2012) Accounts of a Siege in Syria Differ on Rebel YouTube Channels and British Television . The New York Times. Most of the victims were Alawites.125 victims in Syria Alawite bombing . News.com.au. Australian Associated Press, 12 December 2012 The culprits behind the massacre are disputed. According to the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, the massacre would be the largest sectarian-motivated "revenge attack" against Alawites up to that point if the rebels were indeed guilty. On 23 December 2012, the Syrian government was accused of committing a massacre in the small town of Halfaya, where 23 people were confirmed dead. Pro-opposition activists claimed that as many as 300 people were killed by bombing from warplanes. The civilians were allegedly queuing for bread at a bakery. BBC correspondent Jim Muir noted however, that it is inconclusive from video evidence that the building was indeed a bakery. He also noted that of the 23 people identified as dead – all of them were men. Muir added: "it is not out of the question that regime jets managed to strike a concentration of rebel fighters," adding to questions surrounding the incident.

2013 On 15 January 2013, government troops stormed the village of Basatin al-Hasawiya on the outskirts of Homs city were accused of committing a massacre of 106 civilians, including women and children, by shooting, stabbing or possibly burning them to death. On 15 January 2013, twin explosions killed 87 people at Aleppo's university, many of them students attending exams. The government and opposition blamed each other for the explosions at the university. Pro-opposition activists and monitors like the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Syrian Netowork for Human Rights blamed the Syrian government, whereas CNN claimed that anonymous students at the University heard warplanes overhead during the explosion and suspected the government as being responsible. It is worth noting that the university was located in an area of Aleppo that was under government control, and housed roughly 30,000 internally displaced Syrians who had fled other parts of the city that were taken over by rebel forces. Between 29 January and 14 March 2013, opposition activists claimed that they found about 230 bodies on the banks and in the Queiq River in Aleppo, and accused government forces of being responsible for executing the men since the bodies came down the river from the direction of government-held areas of the city. Human Rights Watch was able to identify at least 147 victims, all male and aged between 11 and 64. On 23 March 2013, a chemical weapons attack targeted the town of Khan al-Assal, on the outskirts of Aleppo. 25–31 people were killed. The Syrian government and the rebels traded blame for the attack, but the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that 16 of the dead were government soldiers. According to the government, 21 of the dead were civilians, while 10 were soldiers. Russia supported the government's allegations, while the United States claimed there was no evidence of any attack at all. The Syrian government reached an agreement with the United Nations in July 2013 to allow investigators to inspect the Khan Al-Assal site, alongside at least two other alleged chemical weapon attacks that occurred in Saraqeb and Sheikh Maqsoud. The team, led by Swedish scientist Ake Sellstrom arrived on 18 August 2013, just three days before the larger Ghouta chemical attack happened in the outskirts of Damascus, which placed the investigations into the Khan Al-Assal incident on hold. Between 16 and 21 April, during the Battle of Jdaidet al-Fadl, the Syrian Army was accused by the opposition of carrying out a massacre. The pro-opposition SOHR claimed that 250 people were killed since the start of the battle, with them being able to document, by name, 127 of the dead, including 27 rebels. Another opposition claim put the death toll at 450. One activist source claimed he counted 98 bodies in the town's streets and 86 in makeshift clinics who were summarily executed. Another activist stated they documented 85 people who were executed, including 28 who were killed in a makeshift hospital. On 16 April 2013, Syrian intelligence forces massacred around 280 civilians in the Damascus neighborhood of Tadamon. The victims were individually led into a pre-dug mass grave and executed at close range. The victims included women and children. Further killings in the area are alleged. The massacre was not widely reported at the time, and only became known in 2022 after video evidence surfaced of the incident.