At least six US civilians have been killed in Syria since the outbreak of the uprising in March 2011, and five more remain forcibly disappeared, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR).
Speaking to The New Arab‘s Arabic language edition, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, SNHR Director Fadel Abdul Ghany confirmed that these deaths and disappearances occurred at the hands of various warring parties and controlling forces in Syria.
Among the dead is one woman, while the list of those still missing includes another female American citizen.
According to Abdul Ghany, responsibility for the killings is split evenly between the Syrian regime and the Islamic State group (IS).
“The regime is responsible for the deaths of three American civilians, including a woman who died under torture and a journalist,” he said. “IS is implicated in the killings of three others – two journalists and one individual working in the medical and humanitarian sectors,” he said.
On the issue of enforced disappearances, Abdul Ghany stated that former Syrian regime forces are responsible for four of the five documented cases. The fifth case is believed to involve another, as yet unidentified, party.
