30 Syrian civilians have been killed by Turkish troops in the first nine months of 2021, mostly during attempts to cross the border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on 12 October.
While in most of the cases death was caused by brutal beating, some also involved torture.
According to SOHR, the number of Syrian civilians who have been killed by Turkish border guards (gendarmerie) since the beginning of the Syrian civil war, has risen to 489, including 90 children and 45 females.
The 2021 incidents are listed in detail in the report and include eight cases in which children were targeted and killed.
Eight children killed
On 10 October, a child from a neighbourhood in Qamislo, a city adjacent to Turkey’s southeastern city of Nusaybin (Nisêbîn), died of wounds sustained as a result of being beaten by Turkish troops as he was trying to cross into Turkey from al-Aziziyyah village in Serê Kaniyê (Ras al-Ayn) in northern al-Hasakah.
On 29 September, Turkish border guards dumped the body of a child on the Syria-Turkey border strip, opposite Arada village in Abu Rasin (Zarkan) district in al-Hasakah countryside. The child had reportedly died under torture while in custody -as there were marks of torture on his body- after being arrested by Turkish border guards while he was trying to cross the border.
On 22 August, SOHR activists documented the death of a child from al-Jabin village in the northern countryside of Hama as a result of gunfire by Turkish troops on al-Ali camp in Atama town in Idlib countryside.
On 18 July, SOHR activists reported the death of a child, after being shot by Turkish border guards while he was trying to cross into Turkey from Idlib countryside.
On 10 March, a child was killed by Turkish border guards as he tried to cross the border with his family from the area of Arrada in Abu Rasin countryside.
On 4 March, a child was shot dead by Turkish border guards while he was in front of his house in Al-Madlousah village in Salqin countryside in northwestern Idlib on the border with Iskenderun.
On 12 February, SOHR activists documented the death of a child after being shot by Turkish border guards while he was working with his grandfather on farmland in Salhab village in Jisr Al-Shughour countryside in northwestern Idlib, nearly 500 metres away from the border wall.
On 4 February, a child was killed by Turkish border guards as he tried to cross into Turkish territory from Hilt area in Harem district at the border with Turkey’s southern city of Iskenderun.
Incidents of torture
Some of the cases in the SOHR report also involves torture.
On 30 August, SOHR activists documented the death of a civilian from Qamislo, after reportedly being tortured by Turkish troops and dumped on the Turkey-Syria border. The young man was found on August 29 and taken to a hospital in Qamislo, where he died the following day.
Killed while working
There are also cases in which the victims were killed in their own neighbourhoods as they were involved in their regular daily acitivites.
On 7 May, a civilian was killed in al-Hafriyah village, north of Darkush, after being shot by the Turkish border guards while he was fishing on the bank of al-Asi River.
On 29 April, SOHR activists in Jisr al-Shughur documented the death of an old man from al-Zouf village on the Syria border with Iskenderun after he was shot by the Turkish border guards while he was working in his land.
On 22 April, SOHR activists documented the death of a woman, after being shot by Turkish troops near the border strip in Idlib countryside. According to sources, she was working on agricultural land near the border wall when she was shot.
