Syrian regime kills 56 people, activists say

At least 56 people, including two children and four women, were killed in attacks staged by the Syrian regime in several cities across the country on Monday, activists said. Syrian regime forces killed 27 in the suburbs of capital Damascus, 11 in Idlib, seven in Aleppo, five in Daraa, three in Rakka, two in Deir-uz Zor, and one in Homs in air and land offensives across the country, said the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) which tracks civilian and dissident casualties. The Syrian Revolution General Commission (SRGC) released a statement indicating that regime forces also attacked the Haresta, Douma, Dariya, Berze, Yarmouk, and Kabun regions of capital Damascus, an area where opposition fighters are generally located, with missiles and howitzers. Meanwhile, the SNHR said the death toll among children had exceeded 12,000 since clashes broke out in Syria in March 2011. More than 100,000 people have been killed in almost three years of conflict in Syria and over two million Syrians are now registered as refugees in neighboring countries, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq, according to the UN. The Microfinance Program Director at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Alex Pollock, said that the total cost of the Syria crisis had reached $103.1 billion by the first half of 2013.