Syria’s Descent: a normal week of bloodshed

As Channel 4 News’s week long special, Syria’s Descent, draws to a close, the reports of more bloodshed in key Syrian locations continue to emerge.

Syrian rebels claimed on Friday to have captured Dael, a Syrian town on the Jordanian border in Daraa province. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 16 rebels had died in fierce clashes, as rebels push towards Damascus.

Videos posted online by activists, showed rebels in the streets of Dael and the bodies of dead soldiers lying on the ground.

Watch more: the agony of Aleppo's children

At the same time, footage has emerged from Hureitan in Aleppo, which has been reported to be a Scud missile attack. Three missiles were reported to have been fired from Damascus, targeting a mosque that was full of people for Friday prayers.

Around 20 people are said to have died in the attack and tens more injured.

In the Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood of Aleppo another five civilians were reported to have been killed by rockets, including two children.

In the Al-Sayadah Zaynab and Daray Town areas of south Damascus there were heavy clashes reported, as well as in the Joubar district. In Dammascus alone, 324 people have been reported killed.

Death toll

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that around 800 people have been killed in clashes in Syria from Monday through to the end of Thursday (see graph, below).

Of these, 289 are civilians, whilst 195 are rebel fighters and 123 are government soldiers. In February, the UN estimated that more than 70,000 have died since the uprising began in 2011.

Watch more: rape and sham marriages - the fears of Syria's women refugees

In the same period the number of registered Syrian refugees has risen by nearly 20,000 to 962,508. An additional 258,076 people are awaiting registration – bringing the total number of Syrian refugees, according to the UN, to more than 1.2m.

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A week of bloodshed 

Monday: Colonel Riad al-Assad, founder of the Free Syria Army, loses his leg in an alleged attempted assassination attempt in Deir al-Zor in eastern Syria. Syrian rebels bombarded the centre of Damascus with mortar rounds, state television said, killing at least two people and wounding others. The UN also launched an invesitgation into allegations from both sides that chemical weapons had been used. 

Tuesday: Mortar rounds and a car bomb resulted in killings in Damascus, whilst footage uploaded on the internet purportedly showed rebels in Baba Amr firing at government forces and capturing two government soldiers. 

Wednesday: Violent clashes in Deraa and Homs resulted in more than 30 rebels and civilians being killed, according to estimates. At least six children were among the dead in clashes across the country. Earlier in the week rebels captured a military base in Deraa from the government's 38th brigade

Thursday: At least 15 students were killed in a mortar attack on a Damascus university - the Syrian government attributed the attack to "terrorists", whilst rebels claimed the government had orchestrated the incident in order to turn civilians against them. There were also fierce clashes in Homs, where video footage showed government tanks firing on a bus station reported to have been taken by rebels.